Lone worker Protection - anywhere, anytime all the time
December 1st 2004

SBES LifeSaver began as an idea in 1999. At that time Peter Swan, now CEO (Global) of the company, was running an IT and FM company that serviced financial institutions in the City. One day Peter was working on his own in a restricted access computer room when a representative from the British Safety Council, performing a risk audit, assessment questioned him. The questioning soon uncovered the fact that in the event of an accident no one would hear Peters cries for help and in the event that he was incapacitated nobody would actually know. Because the computer room could be classified as a potentially dangerous area of work Peter should not have been working on his own. He should, according to the procedures laid down, have had a partner working alongside him, despite the fact that he was performing a one-man task. The first problem thrown up by this buddy-buddy idea was the immediate doubling of the labour cost, the second was the fast moving nature of the environment. Working with brokers and traders for high stakes any communication problem has to be solved immediately, indeed a friend recently told me that his company could lose one million pounds per hour if the phone system was cut off. Peter knew that waiting around for a partner to arrive was just not possible so he asked the British Safety Council where he could purchase some equipment that would solve his lone working problem. The upshot was that none existed.

Being the kind of man that he is this did not present the insurmountable problem to Peter that it would to most people. Alongside his colleague Tony Reader, they spent 18 months researching and developing and looking at the existing type of solutions. The type of solutions that existed were telephone systems with software packages which Peter and Tony thought relied to much on human operation...but humans as we know are ultimately fallible. Peter wanted his and Tonys system to be automated, and this automation truly represented a step forward in lone worker protection.

The Health and Safety Expo May 2002 saw the launch of the LifeSaver system that covers lone working and emergency help points. The thinking behind the system, based on Peters experience, is that it replaces First Aid Contact Boards these are expensive to update and often ineffective and inaccurate in an emergency. The LifeSaver system has one central control panel that tells the person who attends it that when an alarm goes off, what type of alarm it is and where it has been activated. An alarm signal immediately pages (or send an SMS text message or puts out a pc message - however the user wishes to be alerted) the emergency response team thus speeding up the whole process of emergency response. The speed of the process is of course vital as in the event of a heart attack correct treatment in the first few minutes can increase the survival chance of the patient enormously. (see illustration below)

The system is modular and there are many different types of alarm device that can be integrated into the one system depending on the users activity and the nature of the site. Of the fixed help point there are many different types: metal boxes for rugged industrial environments, warehouses etc; plastic ip67 rated boxes for other types of industrial sites or weather-proof applications; break-glass, fire alarm type help points for high traffic areas that might otherwise be the cause of constant false alarms and pull cords.

There are also a range of portable help points ranging from pagers to personal pendants to the classic lone worker alarm. SBES lone worker alarm is lightweight, permanently on and offers a two year life. It is designed so that it clips easily to an employees clothing while still allowing them to bend and stretch as they might in their working day. It is also designed so that it cannot be just taken off and stood on its end, as the antenna is designed to point downwards, so that if stood up on a table, the unit is in effect upside down and will alert the user to this fact. The lone worker alarm has two points of activation, two orange buttons on either side have to be pushed simultaneously or there is a tilt mechanism. The tilt mechanism means that if the alarm is tilted at 45 for 15 seconds then the unit emits a 10 second audible alarm. If the unit is not returned upright within 10 seconds then an alarm is activated. However, this alarm can be programmed to be different from the normal alarm condition and recognising the tilt mechanism it informs the central control panel that the worker is down.

This extra information can again speed the emergency response team as, knowing that the worker is down they might as a matter of course bring a de-fibrillator unit, thus saving valuable minutes. The receptionist (or whoever it might be) located near the central control panel can also phone immediately for an ambulance while those members of the emergency response team can immediately react from wherever they are, in accordance with the emergency procedures laid down.

The lone worker alarm can also be specified with a disabling function for the tilt alarm. For some applications that require lone worker protection the tilt function might present a problem. Therefore it is possible to specify a model with a button that disables the tilt alarm for seven minutes. After this period of time the unit operates as normal. This disabling function demonstrates SBES ability to react to customer requirements. Other features of note regarding the LifeSaver system are that the central control panel itself contains a 120dB siren (plus mercifully a mute button) to alert personnel that an alarm has been raised. Re-setting the system is simple, in the event of a power failure, the system has a 21h back up battery that means the LifeSaver system will still work even if it is left unintentionally off). Also, every alarm is date stamped, therefore providing a simple audit trail in the event of an incident and importantly the system is modular and scaleable allowing users to build a system over time or change their messaging requirements. The system is also easy to install and requires very little maintenance.

The LifeSaver system is the core product from SBES and other products that the company now markets have come from that. However, before we update you with the companys latest products the addition of Jeremy Lambourne to the company must be mentioned. As we have seen Peter and Tony worked alongside each other on the technical side to develop the product. But at the beginning of 2003 Jeremy joined the company, after working as a COO in the banking/investment world (Everything leads back to the square mile says Peter). Jeremys finance and management experience was just what was required at that time because SBES was enjoying rapid expansion.

The LifeSaver system is a fixed system that operates over single or multiple sites, protecting personnel working alone in a particular warehouse or factory etc. How though, to protect the maintenance worker who moved from building to building, or site to site? Protector is the mini, portable version of the main system. Coming as a lightweight kit in a carrying case the worker in question hands the receptionist (or designated person) a pager, informing them of an intended working location while he is working in the building and they are now connected to the lone worker tilt unit that he/she is wearing. Upon leaving the premises the worker picks up the pager and moves off to the next job.

Developing on from the Protector concept and only released in October 2003 is the Tracer product. Tracer protects lone workers in the field using a vehicle tracking system linked with a personal protection system. For the Tracer product SBES teamed with DanTracks GPS/GSM technology offering automatic alerting and pinpointing of incidents anywhere in the world! In the event of an incident the lone workers alarm (whichever type it happens to be) will send a message back to his/her vehicle upon which the vehicles tracking system technology will alert a control centre. Depending again on the customers specification this will set in motion an emergency response designed to locate and assist the worker very quickly. The recommended range is that the worker should not be more than 250m away from the vehicle and the GPS/GSM technology of DanTracks system can pinpoint the vehicle very accurately. An added advantage of this system is that companies can also have the option of receiving vehicle management information that provides real time information of where the vehicles are and also log where they have been. Such a system can also, according to Jeremy, lead to favourable insurance discounts, in the region of 15 and 20%. Thus making the system even more cost effective.

Despite its relatively recent launch the Tracer system has already attracted interest from several Blue Chip companies. This, SBES believes is due to the fact that all the indicators are that legislation regarding lone worker protection is on the immediate horizon and these types of companies want a seamless transition when such legislation does hit the statute books.

The three products detailed above are the core of the products that SBES has at this present time, but the company is always developing new ideas and providing bespoke solutions for customers. One such special is that from January 2004 SBES will be able to offer an intrinsically safe lone worker alarm, a product that the company believes no other company can currently offer. Designed originally for customers in the petrochemical industry the product has achieved SIRA ATEX certification and allows for lone worker protection within potentially explosive environments. For more information interested readers should contact the company using the details shown in the panel opposite.

With the distinct possibility of relevant legislation arriving sooner rather than later those with concerns about how to protect their lone workers could do worse than contact SBES. The products themselves are made using best of breed components and the company offers clear advice when questioned over the specification of an application. As Peter Swan always maintains There are no grey areas when it comes to saving peoples lives.