Managing lone worker safety with Identicom

Identicom from Connexion2 enables spire home employees to manage lone worker safety

Lone worker employees at Spire Homes are in the driving seat when it comes to managing their own safety thanks to the technically advanced IdenticomO lone worker device.

Adopted by Spire Homes for its ease of use and ability to allow employees to participate fully in managing their own safety, the award winning Identicom from Connexion2 enables lone workers to log their movements and discreetly raise the alarm if threatened.

Spire Homes is an integral part of the Longhurst Group, which also comprises of Longhurst Homes, Havelok Homes, Friendship and Keystone Developments.

One of the leading housing group structures in the East Midlands area, Longhurst Group has an asset base of around 15,000 homes.

As personnel frequently visited tenants, often at night and weekends, and occasionally confront potentially abusive situations, Health and Safety Manager, Dean Geraghty wanted to ensure that staff had the necessary infrastructure to manage their safety.

"We wanted to create a partnership between employee and employer whereby staff had the impetus and infrastructure to manage their safety".

"Identicom is a fantastic piece of kit that gives staff confidence when they are working alone", says Dean Geraghty.

Trials of the Identicom devices were carried out at Spire Homes' Homelessness Project in Rushden, Northants.

Managed by Sam Stenson, Project Manager, together with a Senior Supported Housing Worker and four Support Housing Workers, the Homelessness Project provides accommodation and support for families and single people who have been made homeless for example by family breakdown, debt and through leaving care or institutions.

"We are frequently faced with challenging situations and occasionally have to deal with aggressive behaviour when we are called out to domestic incidents," says Sam Stenson.

"Since we have been using Identicom it has provided us with reassurance and confidence knowing that we have backup at a touch of a button.

Now in addition to the Homelessness Project, Identicom is being used by Spire Homes Housing Officers, Property Services personnel and Debt Recovery Officers.

Resembling a normal ID holder, but packed with the latest mobile phone technology, Identicom not only enables the lone worker to discreetly raise an alarm if threatened, but also allows a third party to listen to what is happening and record events whatever the distance.

The device can also support the pinpointing of a worker's location using GSM/LBS technology.

Users press an amber alert button to notify their employer when they know they are entering a potentially hazardous situation.

If they then have cause to press the red alert, the device connects to a 24/7 emergency response service run by Connexion2 premier partner Orbis Monitoring.

Operators at Orbis Monitoring retrieve the information on their locality, listen in on the line to what is happening and co-ordinate the appropriate emergency support - involving the police if necessary.

"Identicom is fantastic", concludes Sam Stenson.

"Whenever someone is alone, either in the office or visiting clients, they use the amber alert and have twice needed to press the red alert".

"Although they managed to defuse the situation it was comforting to know that an operator was listening in to what was happening and would have called the police if necessary".

In cases of verbal harassment and abuse, offenders often feel they are immune from legal prosecution, as a mobile phone cannot be relied upon to capture evidence of abuse and can easily be knocked from the hand leaving an employee vulnerable to attack.

Identicom is the only product on the market that truly addresses the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidelines by providing discreet dual verification in a dedicated for purpose unit and enables lone workers to summon emergency assistance without increasing personal risk.

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