When you make an investment you want to see that it’s giving you value for money. Purchasing a lone worker safety system is no different.
However, managing usage is always an issue for customers – particularly in larger organisations which are dealing with a disparate mobile workforce. Should usage be compulsory? How should workers who are not using the system be managed? What does “good usage” even look like?
Introducing new staff procedures on a wide scale can be tricky and managing this process of change will be unique to each organisation. But, in our experience, making usage a contractual obligation means that system take up is swift, usage levels are consistently high, and staff quickly see the process as simply another element in their daily work routine.
Compared to other available lone worker safety systems, Lookout Call delivers high usage figures. This is because lone workers remember to take their phones out with them (unlike specialist device based systems that are often left behind) and they find the check in/ out process easy. But the difference between those organisations who make Lookout Call compulsory and those who don’t is still considerable.
We work with one NHS Trust who made Lookout Call compulsory and regularly reports over 90% usage from a lone worker base of 2,500. This organisation uses the reporting facility on Lookout Call to monitor usage and can identify where usage figures can be improved.
Staff can perceive lone worker safety systems as a Big Brother device that is designed to ‘catch them out’. If the purpose of the system is fully explained, the merits of using it clearly presented and training made easily available, then you should be most of the way there. But making usage enforceable can return very high usage – and demonstrates just how seriously the organisation sees lone worker safety.
Lookout Call has over 10 years’ experience in the lone worker safety market. If you need any advice on implementing a lone worker safety system, or you would like to take a free trial of Lookout Call, then please get in touch.
Related item: Blog – Lone Worker Safety that doesn’t cost the earth