I'd like to see real user applications
Connexion2 is currently working with a wide variety of employers with differing types of lone workers. Whilst each is different there is a common bond, a strong desire to ensure the safety of employees across the organisation. A number of different beneficiaries of Identicom are detailed below, for confidentiality reasons some company names have not been included:
BANKING, FINANCE AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Financial Services Representatives
Connexion2 is working with one of the leading financial services companies who provide a wide range of financial products. The staff involved in the sale and promotion of these services often visit potential customers in their own homes during evening hours. Clearly there is a potential for abuse, attack or worse and it is important that these workers have a way of recording information about there whereabouts and can summon help if required.
Commercial Property Key Holders
If an alarm is triggered in a commercial property late at night it is often the designated keyholder who is called to site to verify the alarm before the Police are called. Arriving on site at night and alone needing to check an alarm out is clearly a high risk job. Identicom is being used to help these workers record their progress and raise an alert if required.
Estate Agents
Sheffield estate agent, Butlers was the first Estate Agent in the UK to use Identicom. Independently owned by David and Leanne Butler, the estate agency specialises in residential sales and lettings from its two sites in Mosborough and Killamarsh in Sheffield. Employing a team of five, Leanne carries out all valuations whilst David looks after the day-to-day running of the business. David Butler wanted to be certain that Leanne could raise an alarm if threatened or if her movements changed from those diarised.
David says: "Most estate agents believe that their staff are safe during working hours, but this is not necessarily the case. Estate agents can just as easily be attacked during the day as out of office hours and giving staff a mobile phone is no safeguard as it can easily be knocked out of a person’s hand”.
Comment from Julie Bentley, Chief Executive of The Suzy Lamplugh Trust:
“The property industry has been slow to respond to the potential risks to staff when out meeting clients. We fully support an initiative such as this, which assists in safeguarding staff. We would like to see this industry more widely take seriously the risks faced by employees”.
HEALTHCARE
National Health Service (NHS) Lone working healthcare staff
In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) has an estimated 150,000 lone or community based staff. All of these staff provide valuable care services to patients and clients in the community but can often suffer from verbal abuse or risk physical attack during their work. The NHS trialled the use of Identicom with over 100 different workers in 22 different NHS organisations in England, the outcome of which was the succesful launch of Identicom in March 2005.
Jim Gee, CEO of the NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS) said: "The NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS) has now successfully completed trials of the Identicom device. NHS staff said they felt safer and more at ease in their working environment when using this device and I hope that NHS organisations take advantage of the opportunities, which are now presented to properly protect lone workers. Identicom is one of a range of measures we are taking to protect lone workers in the NHS from violence and abuse.”
Follow the link to the NHS SMS Website for further details
LOCAL AUTHORITY
City & County Council staff
Local Authorities employ many types of workers who commonly work alone, and at all hours. These individuals are constantly interfacing with the public and in trying to deliver a service face verbal and physical aggression on a regular basis. Some of the beneficiaries of Identicom include:
Stoke-on-Trent Traffic Wardens
In June 2005, Stoke-on-Trent City Council (Midlands, UK) publicly announced its intent to look at equipping its traffic wardens with Identicom. This follows numerous incidents involving these workers facing frequent verbal abuse and in some cases physical attack. The council is keen to look at providing its workers with Identicom as a way of not only helping workers raise an alert for assistance but also to help capture evidence of the verbal abuse they face.
Sefton Council Social Workers
Sefton Council Housing Benefit Officers
Sefton Council Security Staff
Sefton Council Tax Enforcement Officers
Sefton Council was one of the first council’s in the UK to adopt the use of Identicom to protect its staff from assaults.
Dave Ellison, Security Services Manager at Sefton Council, said: “There has been a marked increase in verbal abuse towards our workforce over the past 12 months and verbal abuse can often escalate to a physical assault. Bold Communications (who supplied the units to Sefton Council) demonstrated the Identicom device to us and we were so impressed that we emailed our workforce to establish who it would benefit. We have initially equipped our housing benefit officers, social workers and tax enforcement officers with the device”.
Sefton Council Emergency Duty Team
Council Emergency Duty Team's are small teams of professional social workers providing emergency cover for out of office situations. When called upon, the practitioner is unaware whether he or she will be called to an incident that involves alcohol, drugs, mental health assessment, child abuse or domestic violence. Now, Sefton Council’s Emergency Duty Team is benefitting from Identicom.
Glen Williams, Manager/Practitioner of the Emergency Duty Team for Sefton Council, said: “A typical example of our work would be the phone ringing at 10.00 p.m. to say that Mr X needs assessing under the Mental Health Act (1983) as he is very disturbed and on his own in his flat...Whilst we do everything possible to avoid visiting alone, there are times when we have to and may be faced by an extremely disturbed adult who is paranoid, aggressive and quite psychotic. Simply being out and about late at night on some of the estates we visit, where alcohol and other substances are consumed, can in itself feel threatening”. Glen continues...“Technology can never entirely eradicate risk, but Identicom provides peace of mind and if used to supplement good lone work practices, is an invaluable asset for lone worker safety”.
Sefton Council Complementary Education Service
The Pinefield Centre is the headquarters of Sefton Council’s complementary education service. Complementary education exists to support the continuing teaching of vulnerable children through the collaborative working with schools, families, health, social services and other agencies. Children being supported within the Complementary Education Service encompass minority ethnics and asylum seekers, Traveller children, distance learning and those being educated at home either because they are sick, EOTAS (education other than at school) or pregnant at school age. Whilst the majority of pupils educated within the Complimentary Education Service attend specialist centres where behavioural problems are rarely an issue, the Service does require educational personnel to visit pupils in their homes, either to liaise with parents or to tutor children. Lone workers are amongst the most vulnerable in the workforce and whilst attacks on educational staff are rare, the Pinefield Centre decided to provide their staff with the additional support of Identicom.
Steve Jones, Service Manager of the Pinefield Centre, said: “Working within the Complementary Education Service does involve our personnel to periodically work alone, and although verbal and physical abuse is very rare, we felt that Identicom would provide our staff with security and peace of mind”.
The Identicom units were supplied to Sefton Council by Bold Communications.
Fife Council Social Work Service
Fife is the third largest local authority in Scotland with a population of 350,000. It employs 4,350 personnel within its Social Work Service of which 2,600 staff are lone workers.
Stephen Moore, Head of Social Work Services at Fife Council, said: “We have a number of care homes for the elderly where staff are particularly vulnerable at night and where there have been a couple of break-ins. As staff are attending to residents’ personal needs, carrying a mobile phone is not a practical option. Identicom has overcome the difficulties of not being able to carry a mobile phone. The Identicom units have been distributed to our residential homes. Staff now have the security of being able to wear Identicom either around their necks or clipped to their clothing, and know that they only have to press the call button to activate the emergency procedure”.
The Identicom units were supplied to Fife Council by Blue Chip Technologies.
Places for People Group Outreach Workers
North British Housing (subsidiary of Places for People) Housing Officers
The Places for People Group is one of the UK’s leading housing and regeneration specialists. Identicom is not only ensuring the safety of the Group’s staff but is also being utilised for recording incidents of verbal abuse.
Shaun Thornton, Housing Officer, who works in the inner city areas of Manchester looking after social housing for North British Housing, said: “You feel alright when you’re in your car but when you park and get out and there’s a group of youths nearby, you can really feel that you are on your own. I found Identicom easy to use and it gave me a sense that someone was always there for me...I pressed the amber alert every time I went for a meeting and on one occasion tested the red button to see what would happen. I was amazed at how fast the call centre was on the line”.
The Identicom units were supplied to the Places for People Group by Orbis Monitoring.
