Building a Safer Workplace

Hello and happy Tuesday everyone. I'm Robert Yannis, Jr, the content editor of Occupational Health and Safety Magazine. Welcome to today's webinar presentation, Building a Safer Workplace: Harnessing Connectivity to Boost Your Lone Worker Safety.
 
Our sponsor for today's webinar is Blackline Safety. Many thanks to them for making today's presentation possible. And our speakers for today's presentation are Miriam O'Connell and Randall Arms. Miriam is a connected gas safety and emergency monitoring specialist and manages Blackline Safety's portfolio of 24/7 emergency monitoring solutions across Europe. In her time at Blackline, Miriam has revolutionized the monitoring offering available to European customers and prides herself on the efficiency, professionalism and constant development of the company's portfolio. With a background in neuroscience and data analytics, Miriam is a huge proponent of Blackline Analytics and regularly hosts webinars and talks around trend analysis solutions and the future of data-informed prediction.
 
Randall is a seasoned safety professional with a 15 year career dedicated to process safety and worker empowerment.
 
He has a rich history of managing safety processes to facilitate the implementation of best in class safety initiatives within companies for their lone worker programs. His comprehensive approach ensures both employee well-being and operational excellence across diverse workplace environments. From his roots in the fire service, Randall evolved through distribution and ground level environmental health and safety roles and in manufacturing.
 
Randall joined Blackline Safety in 2021 and is now the channel operations manager for North America. Dedication to people and safety initiatives ensures every worker safely leaves the workplace. Miriam and Randall have put together an excellent presentation for you today. I think you're gonna get a lot out of it.
 
But before we get started, I wanna address a few housekeeping items. At the end of the presentation, there will be a Q&A session where I will ask Miriam and Randall some questions from all of you. But you don't have to wait for the Q&A to submit a question. You can submit a question at any quest at any point during the webinar.
 
If you'd like to submit a question, you're more than welcome to use the ask a question console on your screen. And, again, you can do that at any point during this presentation.
 
If you have any technical difficulties during the presentation, click on the help button located below the slide window, and you'll receive technical assistance. And finally, after this virtual event today, you'll receive an email containing a link to an archive of today's presentation. You can go back and review it or share it with colleague who might have missed it. So all that said, it looks like we're about ready to kick off today's presentation. So I'm gonna hand things over to our speakers. Miriam, the floor is yours.
 
Thank you so much. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. A big good morning, afternoon, or evening, wherever you are in the world.
 
Before we get started, I'd like to quickly go through what we'll be discussing today and the aims for our session.
 
We'll start by introducing Blackline Safety and what we do. And the next, we'll be defining what a lone worker truly is and some of the specific hazards that they can face and those with an enhanced impact when working alone.
 
With these risks in mind, we'll review a few examples of lone worker regulation introduced across the world, and my colleague Randall will give us some really helpful information around how a lone worker policy can be designed, implemented, reviewed, and championed within your organization.
 
Work and technology can support such policy.
 
I will then take you through some of the, I'll take you through the phenomenon of connected technology when it comes to lone worker safety and some of the vital capabilities to look out for when choosing a solution to support your internal policy.
 
Along with some detail, of course, around how Blackline Safety's state of the art technology can help you protect your workers.
 
Please do feel free to ask questions at any time that you may have for Randall and I, and we'll take some time to answer as many as we can at the end. We'll be discussing some extra reading today as well, and we'll follow-up with our slides today for anyone who would like to delve into those resources and provide links. And we'll also follow-up on any questions that we don't get to answer live today.
 
So who is Blackline Safety?
 
Well, Blackline Safety is a technology leader, both hardware and cloud connected software and big data, driving innovation in the industrial workforce through IoT, that's Internet of Things.
 
Blackline provides wearable lone worker safety, gas detection, and area monitoring devices to meet demanding safety challenges and enhance overall productivity for organizations, and and we have coverage in over 100 countries. We also provide state of the art bespoke data analytics and reporting packages and custom 24/7 professional safety monitoring services across the globe for our customers with configurable emergency protocols and hardware settings bespoke for every worker. So let's get started.
 
Who exactly is a lone worker?
 
So we'll start by defining what we mean when we hear the term lone worker. In its most basic form, a lone worker can be defined as an employee who works alone without close or direct supervision.
 
This definition is what most government and health and safety bodies use such as OSHA and the Health and Safety Executive, but what does this really mean?
 
Crucially, anyone can be a lone worker for some or all of their workday no matter how long they might actually be working alone for.
 
So for example, some employees may work alone at all times, such as factory or warehouse workers, machinery operators, or logistics drivers, but others may only be alone for some of their workday.
 
So, for example, when driving between sites, traveling for work, or even when entering a confined space, so for a really short period of time.
 
And we should also be careful to consider industries and roles where we may not naturally or normally associate with lone worker risk. So for example, health care and social workers, anyone who may work from home for some or all of their working week, emergency responders, and, of course, so many more.
 
The point of this really is that there can be a preconceived notion of the industries in which lone workers increasing in our digital age, we need to consider that the numbers, but also the spread of these workers is ever evolving.
 
So why is defining and protecting our lone workers so important?
 
Well, concerns over lone worker safety are not a new phenomenon. I'm sure we've all heard the term lone worker before, but the frequency and the range, like I said, of risk, of course, is on the rise as the number of lone workers So here on the screen, you'll see some interesting numbers from a survey conducted by Track Plus in North America.
 
So we can see here 15-20% of today's workers are working alone, and 44% of those workers felt unsafe at some point, and 20% struggled to get help in the case of an emergency. So these are some big numbers, but also some worrying numbers.
 
So when we're talking about the risks that lone workers face, what exact risks are we talking about?
 
Of course, lone workers are highly vulnerable because they operate completely out of sight and out of sign sorry, out of sight and out of sound of their colleagues.
 
So as a result, lone workers often face an increased likelihood of safety incidences as a result of being alone and, like I said, out of contact.
 
But they can also actually face enhanced severity of adverse outcomes because they don't necessarily have access to immediate help when working alone.
 
The quote on screen here comes from Jason Hudson, who is a lobbyist for Idaho employee rights. And we can see a few examples on the screen here as well, of headlines pertaining to accidents sorry. Accidents and workplace violence, which have been faced by lone workers in recent years. And this really is, our stress, just a select few.
 
I will give you a chance to read through these.
 
But before we move on, I would also like to really highlight some of these here, which relate to workplace violence that lone workers can face.
 
Often, this is to do with uniformed workers, such as meter readers, emergency services, bailiffs, etcetera. And we'll look at an example of such an incident a little bit later on.
 
According to the National Safety Council, the NSC, every year, two million American workers report having been victims of workplace violence.
 
In fact, a representative, one of Blackline Safety's valued customers, actually captures this risk quite well, reporting that as a country and as an industry, we see more results, more people that are not very tolerant.
 
So, certainly, workplace violence is one to be aware of, especially as it's on the rise.
 
So just briefly, let's take a look at some common lone worker risks and hazards. And, again, this is not an exhaustive list, but some common examples.
 
So gas or chemical exposure, of course, and you'll see that some of these examples might be role-specific.
 
Workplace violence, we've mentioned. And in fact, even members of the public can pose a risk of violence, especially in situations where employees such as meter readers, bailiffs, examples we've given, and even care workers actually are carrying out potentially difficult tasks without colleagues there to support them.
 
Slips, trips, and falls are risks that anyone can face, but when alone, that, the risk of adverse outcomes, like we said, is potentially larger.
 
Electrocution, equipment incidences, probably, increased risk, an increased hazard. Sudden illness, again, could affect anyone, but without someone there to help you is an increased risk, an increased hazard.
 
And then these last three here, motor vehicle accidents, weather hazards, and remoteness, we actually have a really good, not good, a really a good example of these three actually in one scenario.
 
Where actually, members of a distribution partner of of ours of Blackline Safety actually experienced all three of these various scenarios rolled into one. They were in a remote area of Mexico, and that day was incredibly rainy, so there were some pretty slippery road conditions.
 
Our partners witnessed the truck in front of them lose control and actually slide off the highway, bursting into flames.
 
So, actually, by triggering an alarm on their G7 device, exhibit a here that I've got on, our team members were able to speak to operators, and, fire and ambulance services were able to dispatch to their location. So that's just a really good, real life example that shows that actually, in a lot of cases, some of these, various risks and hazards can compact with each other compound.
 
Okay. So looking at well-being for lone workers, and this is this is important. I'd like to highlight how important well-being really is of employees for employers with an important impact on absenteeism, so time spent away from work, presentee presenteeism, which is time spent physically in work, but without full attention, without full dedication, and, of course, the impact that well-being can have on productivity.
 
The risks or the impacts of mental and therefore physical health are greater when we're talking about lone workers, so it's important to go over.
 
Risks to lone workers are not just physical, but they are also psychological as well.
 
Lone working can lead to increased sense of responsibility, and this in turn can increase perceived pressure and therefore stress.
 
Working alone can also sometimes lead to a sense of abandonment, loneliness, disconnection from colleagues, or even disconnection from other people in general, bearing in mind that most of the time work is where we spend most of our time.
 
Stress, loneliness, and a lack of psychological well-being can also, as I'm sure we're all aware, have a significant impact on physical health and vice versa. So actually not looking after psychological well-being can lead to a sort of vicious cycle of ill health.
 
And with that in mind, workers with preexisting physical health concerns are at a high risk when they're working alone because they don't have immediate support from others during a potential medical incident.
 
And just as a final note, let's not forget that working from home is also known working.
 
The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that around 27% of the US workforce was working remotely at least part term part time as of August and September 2022. While a handful of academic surveys I found actually suggest that the number might be closer to 50%. So pretty big numbers to bear in mind.
 
So thinking about what lone working is and what the risks that lone workers can face and the enhanced hazards that are potentially facing our lone workers, what can we do or what can we see around the world in terms of legal obligation and regulation?
 
Well, work alone legislation is becoming more and more stringent in many regions, and we'll look at a few examples here around the world. This is, like I said, just a few examples looking at where most of our attendees are based, but this is certainly not exhaustive.
 
So I'll just highlight some of the examples here. The recent Cal OSHA legislation requires every employer in California to formulate a comprehensive violent workplace violence prevention plan and train employees on how to identify and avoid workplace violence and begin logging incidences in detail by July 2024.
 
Taking a look a bit deeper at the US, duty of care plays a really huge role, and employers have a legal obligation to provide a workplace free from recognizable hazards that cause or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees when there is a feasible method to abate those hazards.
 
In addition, the US requires employers to account for all lone workers at regular intervals throughout their shift, something that many of us may know as checking in, and we'll go into checking in in a little bit more detail later on today.
 
Moving over to the UK, home turf for me. UK legislation actually outlines formal parameters on the responsibilities of employers, lone worker equipment, and interestingly, monitoring equipment, making it one of the most successful nations when it comes to workplace safety.
 
And in fact, Blackline Safety's G7c is the only lone worker worker gas detection device that is certified to the newly revised BS, British standard 8484:2022 standard in the UK.
 
In Canada, three quarters of provinces and territories have lone worker legislation with employer requirements to assess the health and safety hazards associated with each individual particular job.
 
And then finally, certainly not least, just to highlight an international standard.
 
ISO-45000 and one actually outlines the world's international standard for occupational hay health and safety for employees and also visitors in the workplace.
 
ISO-45000 and one has seen a 97.3% increase in worldwide certificates in 2020. So this really is a testament to its growing importance globally.
 
Now with those few examples, it's important to bear in mind that legislation is wide reaching, as we've seen, ever changing, and it varies across the globe. So understanding the legislation in your region is really essential when implementing a lone worker solution or program.
 
And with that in mind, I'm going to hand over to Randall now who's gonna take you through some of the, important things to remember when building an internal health and safety policy for your lone workers and how you can really champion this and implement it the best way possible. Over to you, Randall. Thank you.
 
Hey. Thanks for the great information, Miriam.
 
Good morning, good evening, good afternoon, and good night to all those that are are watching, around the world.
 
So let's talk about the essential elements of a lone worker policy.
 
So so now that we have this knowledge, what's the next step? How do we take this information and put it into action?
 
What, what directives do you have in place right now for working alone?
 
I I tell you what. Let's take a walk down the path of creating a lone worker policy perform risk assessment.
 
From there, we'll look at the roles and responsibilities of affected workers and leadership.
 
Then we'll get into how to report or possibly adjust your reporting procedures based on lone worker, and then we'll end it up with employee training resources and contact information.
 
So policy purpose. We all know that the introduction and and purpose statement in a policy or program is meant to supplement the company's overall health and safety objective, and it should promote safe when working. A good practice is to identify the ways the company aligns its core values with finding and fixing hazards.
 
The policy should also state that lone workers should not be at more risk than others working when working alone.
 
In instances where work is being performed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, steps should be taken when close or direct supervision is not available.
 
Now using the reference standards of governing bodies that Miriam mentioned earlier will also help strengthen your policy by referencing those standards where it makes sense.
 
And make sure that your purpose also outlines the scope of affected employees, looking at everyone from the administration team, members of frontline, service, production team members as well.
 
So now that we have our purpose, let's move into the next step of the risk assessment and defining the hazard.
 
So first things first.
 
We must define the hazard.
 
If you are in an industry where you follow standard, it is imperative that the standard that that standard is referenced, some of those that Miriam mentioned above.
 
For those, the legislation isn't directly affected. The most common universal definition, again, that Miriam, mentioned before, is lone workers are those who work by themselves without close or recognized hazard, so it's a good practice to reference that standard in your definition.
 
Now as we know about the several references in governing bodies where you may find lone worker legislation that speaks to different types of work, it's ultimately up to your organization to write that definition.
 
Now at the end, we will tell you where to find the legislation if you're interested in obtaining, at the end of our, webinar.
 
And there are key there are several key best practice statements in various industries.
 
So make sure that your definition also aligns with company culture and means of working.
 
Randall, why do you say means of working? Well, it depends on the hazard they face during routine tasks, or the hazard may only present present itself during non routine tasks.
 
The definition can be as broad or as specific as your work should dictate. Be considered to include information pertinent to your organization.
 
This information such as where's your normal work hours versus work being performed outside normal work hours? What is your work away from normal locations and working separately from those that may come up?
 
The definition should reiterate that lone workers are recognized and safeguarded under this policy or program.
 
Now now that we have the definition, let's take the next step to identify those hazards.
 
Your overall risk assessment for the site or company should be updated with the new lone work information.
 
From here, the objective is to understand what direction, overall, the company will take to lower the risk of the to lower the risk to an acceptable amount.
 
So what hierarchy of control should you use to reduce the risk?
 
Well, as much as anyone can, we want to eliminate the hazard.
 
Examples include changing times of when tasks are to be completed, creating a buddy system of when the work is being performed, or even using engineering controls to keep workers out of harm's way can be creative ways to eliminate or reduce the frequency of lone work. Make sure that you are including frequency and likelihood in each time someone is working alone.
 
Now Miriam is gonna explore a great PPE control a little later in this webinar, and I'll talk a little bit about a great admin control using training and education methods here shortly. So hang out with those hang out with us on that for for just a little bit.
 
Depending on the ways of working, you may wanna introduce a serious injury factor table to help workers identify areas of concern.
 
These could be sudden illnesses such as stroke or heart attack, occupational injuries such as falls, electric shock, heat, cold stress, chemical exposures, or even contributing factors such as fatigue, combustible materials, configuration of confined spaces, or inclement weather.
 
Once this is done, you should look to understand where the acute risk may may need to be actioned upon immediately versus other areas that may need to be more defined.
 
Now let's take this assessment and apply it for your job hazard analysis.
 
As it seems to be the most efficient means to detail which task may need additional controls to reduce the risk to an acceptable amount.
 
A good best practice may need to be add a work alone checkbox to your JHA or listing working alone as an inherent hazard may be needed.
 
You may want to also look at right to work permits or other measures that you have for non routine task to apply the hazard.
 
This will help your workers and leadership with a different thought process that in in turn will bring awareness of working alone.
 
From here, you should get a great read on the two questions.
 
One, what is my overall exposure to lone worker risk?
 
And two, what resources, both internal and external, is it going to take to get this implemented?
 
Now that we've kinda gone over and policy defined and has it identified, let's kinda get into the who who does what.
 
Under roles and responsibilities, each affected person role role for a successful implementation.
 
What you wanna ask yourself is, do my updated controls match still who does what?
 
Part of your policy may be check ins. So it'd be a great idea to define the intervals between. For example, who's responsible for performing the task, and what is the countermeasure in the wake of an absence, or what role now do I need to include said department or team?
 
Don't forget, the supervisor engagement has often been found to be the fulcrum point of success in implementing change.
 
So now let's look at reporting procedures.
 
Depending on the direction of the company to manage reporting of lone workers, you may wanna work internally or use an outside third party to manage loan little work reporting.
 
Make sure that you assess the capacity of your current teams and the ability to manage 100% what the expectations may be.
 
When writing out the policy for lone worker, you must take into account what, if any, supporting procedures when keeping workers safe. What steps implementing a lone worker policy In implementing a lone worker policy, you may wanna introduce notifying certain leadership as a measure to reduce the risk of working alone as well. To take it a step further, in the event of a missed check-in, supervisors have escalation steps to notify leadership in the event a type this type of incident, may happen.
 
Another example is certain reporting structure changes with environmental conditions, such as inclement weather, or locations that your worker may travel with a known abundance of wildlife.
 
Okay. Now we've got our policy and document is starting to take some shape. So what about training and education?
 
Bear with me, folks. I'm just trying to get my next slide up here.
 
Having a little bit of trouble. There we go. Alright. So employee training and resources.
 
So just like any other policy, the need the need to educate, equip, and empower workers to understand working alone is just as important as recognizing the hazards exist. The way you define the hazard will have an impact on how you educate your workers and how often. Each industry is different, and success usually comes from providing easy access to knowledge. The more workers know, the more questions that get answered.
 
Developing toolbox talks, annual training refreshers, or drilling on your hierarchy of controls in your response protocol are great ways to keep education on at the forefront for all affected workers.
 
Now if you're using a third party company, invite them to your company worker events, such as safety days, to reiterate the partnerships giving workers the opportunity to ask questions.
 
Now what's the method used for employees to share concerns?
 
Utilizing your safety champions or committees is another great way to empower your success of lone worker policy implementation and getting make sure that those are those employees are, they are, they have the information at hand to be able to answer questions.
 
Another good tip is when you're writing your policy is to get the voice of your your workers. In your next perception survey, ask a few questions pertaining to working alone. This will help perceive knowledge and the effectiveness of the lone worker policy.
 
So now that we have a great plan on the table and understanding what we need to do and how to implement it, it's time to look at some change management.
 
So looking at a few steps here of change management, the first thing we have is align on your change approach.
 
You need to identify the reasons for the change, which could be internal and external, and the impacted stakeholders along with how you communicate and implement it. Remember, use data more than subjectivity.
 
The next is vocal and visible leadership. It's important to champion an executive sponsor who is front and center socializing the change. They're gonna be the ones that's gonna help surface resistance and celebrate successes.
 
Build your change network. Create a coalition of ambassadors. Think about a steering committee who can cheerlead, rally, and inspire their coworkers.
 
Invest in the implementation.
 
Outline how you're going to onboard and execute.
 
This may include timing of budgets and aligning with other projects' timeline.
 
And then close the gap with data.
 
Measure the adoption, acceptance, and adequacy of support using evaluation methods like employee surveys and post training evaluations.
 
Remember, PDCA, plan, do, check, act. In change management, this is gonna be your best friend.
 
That was a lot of information, everyone. But here where it comes the most exciting part. I'm gonna turn the mic back over now to Miriam, and she's gonna go on some really good stuff that we've got going on here at Blackline.
 
Thanks so much, Randall.
 
So we've taken a look into internal policy for lone worker risk, and Randall mentioned a few times how key PPE devices or lone worker tech can be for this.
 
So with this in mind, I'm gonna take a few minutes to first highlight the rise and importance of connect of a connected safety solution with cloud connected IoT, Internet of Things, safety devices becoming standard as work workplaces transform digitally.
 
When we talk about connected safety, we're referring to the communication of lone worker technology directly to account, allowing live data transmission to inform safety decisions and emergency management.
 
Harnessing connectivity to enhance your lone worker program can revolutionize worker safety and including things like gas readings, speed of travel, device health, and so much more.
 
Could also allow for data trend analysis to streamline safety processes and escalation plans based off of drills and previous incidents.
 
It can also provide usage and shift data, which can help you assess uptake amongst teams, a fairly new capability, when it comes to lone worker tech.
 
And this allows you to understand the impact of employee training, how many users are using their devices as they should be for their safety. And this data can be used to inform and hone policy moving forward.
 
Connected tech can be really useful as well to render data analytics that can help us to understand workplace output and risk and productivity, which can highlight and be used to enhance, crucially, workplace efficiency.
 
In some cases, and this is pretty cool, connected technology can actually even allow for predictive analytics, putting the client in the driving seat when it comes to preventative measures for employee safety. So analyzing past trends, incidents, what happened and why, and using that to predict what might happen in the future at specific intervals, which is really, changing the market when it comes to protecting our users and also things like productivity, risk for equipment, all of this.
 
So Blackline Safety are actually market leaders when it comes to connected safety devices for lone workers. Have an exhibit here.
 
Of course, gas safety and environments which necessitate both lone workers and gas safety.
 
On the screen here, you will see a few quotes that we thought were really useful or poignant from some key customers of ours.
 
So the first quote here is from the HR manager from MAM and Keystone.
 
If we didn't have the Blackline device and the AED, that's the automated external defibrillator, then I don't think our employee would be alive today. This goes to show the importance of having a both lone worker devices and AEDs in place.
 
And then the second quote on the screen here is from the HSSE manager of Shell, Shell Oil Company.
 
We have implemented Blackline Safety's monitoring devices because Shell does not just want to talk about safety. We want to do it. These devices help ensure our employees and security personnel who are working alone are protected 24/7.
 
So what should we be looking for in a lone worker solution? When we're talking about connected technology, we're talking about lone work worker policy. What exactly should we be looking for in terms of capabilities?
 
Well, I'd like to first bring your attention to this helpful white paper on the screen here by the NSC, National Safety Council, which, focuses on using lone worker monitoring technology to protect workers. This is a really useful tool that we advise employers to look into, and there's a link to this in the slide deck for you all also.
 
So what are some of the key capabilities to consider in a lone worker solution?
 
Well, location technology with integrated GPS can provide accurate location to get help to an employee in their time of need and identify areas of potential risk also to keeping users out of an unsafe environment as opposed to simply responding when they're already within that environment.
 
Real-time visibility via the built-in cloud connectivity allows for compute continuous communication, situational awareness, and accurate dispatching of support, crucially, from anywhere.
 
Satellite connectivity provides a fail-safe way for workers to keep in touch even in the most remote locations where cellular coverage is lacking. And, actually, that example in the remote part of Mexico we spoke about earlier, is a really good example of this. In fact, satellite technology was what made that alert possible.
 
Two way voice capability essentially allows, users to make a operators to make a phone call to users via their device.
 
So this enables monitoring personnel to communicate with the lone worker directly via speakerphone during an emergency for accurate, up to date, and continuous updates.
 
Of course, an emergency SOS feature allows employees to quickly call for help audibly or silently during an emergency.
 
Silent SOS is actually crucial when an alarm must be raised without notifying those around.
 
And we'll actually talk about an example where this may be useful a little bit later on.
 
Looking at full or no motion detection, and in fact, you may have heard this return referred to as a man down alarm.
 
These, sensors can detect if a worker slips, trips, or falls or when a person is motionless for a configurable amount of time, which then can trigger an alarm to monitoring personnel. And, crucially, this has no requirement for a manual process. This is all missed check-in, we've spoken about a few times, and, actually, this was one of those legal requirements in some areas of the US that workers have to be checked in with at specific intervals throughout their work alone shift.
 
So missed check-ins can automatically send an alarm if a worker fails to check-in and confirm their well-being at the agreed upon interval.
 
So, crucially, with a back phone device, there's no manual process here. No one has to set an alarm every two hours, physically call the user to check that they're okay.
 
And, of course, in ATEX, for example, gas environments where phones can't be used, a piece of lone worker tech can be the the difference there.
 
And then talking about gas detection, it's also important that if there are specific risks to users based on their role that that is, considered. So gas detection can detect potentially hazardous gases in the atmosphere, both live current readings and also potentially via STEL, short-term time-weighted exposure limit, or TWA, time weighted average calculation throughout a worker's shift.
 
Getting on to analytics, delivering of out of the box or customizable bespoke analytics, dashboards, and reports, can really be this the the difference when it comes to analyzing the safety of your users, but also things like productivity, usage, training, uptake, honestly, anything.
 
And with these reports fully managed to help you things like your gas exposure, improve efficiency, and manage compliance, it's really crucial.
 
And on compliance management, something that can be really, really useful is providing data informed insights into how your users are actually using their devices when it comes to usage data, timing, but also things like calibrating and bump testing in order to both understand and also improve worker behavior and review things that have been put in place to improve worker behavior.
 
And then last, but absolutely, certainly not least, twenty four seven live monitoring.
 
So it is absolutely crucial that you're able to provide professional monitoring services to ensure alerts are responded to and managed quickly and professionally so that your workers can get the help that they need when they need it according to agreed protocols and escalation processes in place.
 
So as promised, to finish up today, we'll take a look at two real life examples from our customers in which Blackline Safety connected lone worker technology was actually the saving grace in an emergency. Saving lives and ensuring employees get home safe to their families after every shift, which ultimately is the reason that we do what we do.
 
These examples really highlight some of the risks that we've already discussed and how a connected safety device and some of those capabilities that we've just been through can really help in these scenarios.
 
So first, let's take a look at Sasha's story.
 
Sasha is a utilities worker, and she was actually just performing the fairly routine task of turning off a customer's meter as per her role dictates.
 
The customer became angered by her presence on her property and the situation, and he threatened to direct his large aggressive guard dog towards her.
 
So in this case, Sasha was able to pull her red SOS latch on her Blackline Safety G7 device. And, actually, this is a good example of where, potentially, if a member of the public or a person is the risk at hand, a silent SOS could be really useful to not let them know that an alarm has been raised.
 
In this case, a monitoring agent was able to contact Sasha directly using that two way voice communication we spoke about and ensure her well-being.
 
The agent was able to contact emergency services, and the police were dispatched, which helped Sasha handle the incident and ensure that she was safe from harm.
 
Another really poignant case is that of Juan.
 
During a a site inspection, Juan, who is an environmental adviser, saw a tornado flowing on the horizon.
 
He was actually unable to reach his vehicle in times. You can imagine the terror in this scenario.
 
He, had no choice, and he had to take shelter in a nearby storage container. But when the tornado reached the container that he was taking refuge in, it violently knocked it over, which damaged the door, so one actually couldn't exit safely at all.
 
But luckily, the upheaval of this unit actually triggered a full detection alarm or a man down alarm from his G7 known worker device, the Blackline Safety device.
 
So as a result, Juan's device was So as a result, an operator was able to speak to Juan immediately and ensure his safety, and emergency services were dispatched to to his exact location as per the, GPS speeches we discussed.
 
And, therefore, Juan Juan's rescue was carried out and he, he lived to tell the tale.
 
So just two examples there, and, of course, we could give examples all day. The two really good examples of some of the, some of those risks we talked about, but in real life scenarios and how the features of the Blackline G7 were the saving grace for these two employees. And this happens all the time. We have so many examples of where technology, connected technology, has been the thing that makes the difference and make sure that workers get home to their families at the end of their shift. So it's something that's really important to consider.
 
And with that, I will hand back over to Randall to wrap us up for today. Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to answering some of your questions.
 
Well, Miriam, this is this is great stuff. It's incredible yet fortunate to see how Blackline Solutions, real life effect on rescue versus recovery.
 
So so, folks, you've heard from Miriam at the first of this webinar on the the why Lone worker is so important, and vital to worker safety.
 
I took a quick dive in how we put together and how we put our knowledge into action.
 
Then Miriam kinda brought it home with giving us a great insight of not only how Blackline Safety can be part of the answer to your lone workers solution through PPE, we're also giving two real world scenarios on how workers were able to get home safe.
 
So from everyone from Miriam and I, to those around the world, thank you for joining this presentation today, building a safer workplace, harnessing connectivity to boost your lone worker safety. We will be following up, with all the attendees with our guide to lone worker safety.
 
You can find more information, obviously, on our on Blackline connect solutions at blacklinesafety.com. And now I'm gonna hand it back over to Robert for some Q&A.
 
Great. Thank you, Randall. Miriam and Randall, that was such a great presentation.
 
You covered a lot of ground. So let's get to some of the questions that we received.
 
The first one, are there solutions that are for lone workers and also provide gas detection? This is for either of you.
 
There certainly is. In fact, I have one here. So the Blackline Safety G7 actually does cover both of those things. It is possible to have a G7c, which does not have a gas cartridge.
 
This one does. So as an example, so this piece deals with lone worker. This piece deals with gas detection. So, yes, absolutely, that does exist.
 
Great. Thank you. Next question. What are some common barriers when implementing a lone worker solution, and how do you overcome?
 
That's a great question. I'm happy to take that one as well, Randall, if you're happy. Yes.
 
So something that's really common when it comes to uptake of a lone worker policy, is the users and their worry about being, I guess, overwatched. Micromanaged is something that sometimes people worry about. And it's also something that sometimes, unions have concerns about as well, making sure that users aren't being tracked for unnecessary purposes. In terms of overcoming, I think something that's really crucial is making sure that employees understand the policy that is being implemented, understand the purpose, and also understand how they can have an input here.
 
So how what they do impacts the the policy, the outcome, the escalation process, and that they really understand the tech that they're wearing. Just giving someone a device can fill them with worry. They don't know what happens when there's an alarm. They don't know who's watching them and what that means.
 
But crucially, the point is to keep them safe, and this is their solution. This is for them, and it needs to work for them. And, we find that training is a big piece here, but also making sure that employees understand that this is for them And that with the data that can come out of these devices, things can be honed to make sure they're perfect for that employee. The purpose is not to watch them. The purpose is to keep them safe.
 
Absolutely. Great. Thank you so much.
 
Next question. Someone asked someone says, my workers work in the mountains and forests. How does the, how does the device work in remote locations that cell phones and radio signals have trouble reaching?
 
Yeah. So, Miriam, I'll take this one. We have a we call it g seven extra satellite connectivity that works in conjunction with a bridge.
 
Bridge is a very small device about the size of a brick that communicates with that, G7x device. And the bridge is gonna pick up both satellite and cellular connectivity, and transmit that to the the g seven x device.
 
It's over a, a network, a 900 megahertz network. But what's gonna happen as long as that bridge has, site to sky, you're gonna have a 100% connectivity, albeit satellite or cellular, whichever is the strongest of the the two connectivity options.
 
Great. Thank you. Next question. Does Blackline Safety offer lone worker devices that are intrinsically safe for use in a paint booth?
 
Absolutely.
 
Yep. All all of our G7 devices, G7x, G7c are intrinsically safe.
 
Great. Thank you.
 
Next question regarding satellite connectivity.
 
Will sites be required to install additional satellite antenna systems on-site where cellular signal may be limited, such as inside building?
 
No. The the only thing that'll be required is the bridge. So we we have done implementations at places in remote areas that have kind of a a home office or a home spot, and then they're traveling, within dense forests. And those devices are working well.
 
And and so it's just the bridge that you're gonna need that connects, and that can be a a battery powered source. It takes low a low power USB. It's not something that, you know, requires a one pin, you know, direct charge. You can do it that way, but it it it can be mobilized and put into vehicles as well.
 
So it can be mounted to, a location, but also can be mounted inside of vehicles as that person travels.
 
Great. Thank you.
 
Next question. Do you have lone worker devices that do not have a forehead monitor for use by workers that are not in environments that require it?
 
We certainly do. Actually, conveniently, on the screen here, this this picture, this person is using what we call a zed cup. So this device this, this device here doesn't have a gas cartridge on, and this one I'm wearing here does. So that's the difference there. So, yes, we work by a swappable cartridge.
 
So in fact, the top half of this device, this piece here comes off, and I can replace that with single gas, five gas, four gas, no gas, very much dependent on the worker and exactly what they need.
 
Great. Next question. Is the G7 the only device you have with the red latch and the silent alarm?
 
So I'll take this question, Miriam. We do have another device that has it's not a a red latch, but it is notification for s s or SOS.
 
That's gonna be our G6 product, which is our single gas product that goes into for for gas detection. That device now has an SOS button for to to alert for SOS, but the G7 product is the only one that has the quote unquote latch to pull. Now we also have our, our app that, that we can push through a loner mobile app that has a way to swipe, to do an SOS latch, but nothing for a quote unquote red latch.
 
Sorry, Randall, to interrupt you there.
 
Something else that people ask about a lot with our area monitors, our Ekso device, is whether it's possible to to manually ask for help even though the idea is that it's not worn. And, yes, that is possible on that device as well. So I suppose the answer is you can manually request help on any of our devices.
 
Thank you. Great. Next question. Someone asked, is there another device for fall detection?
 
No. All in one.
 
K. There you go. Simple answer. Next question. What solutions do you have for lone lab workers?
 
So, Mirna, I'll take this one. So lone lab lone lab workers would be the G7. It would just not have the gas detection if there's no inherent hazards, for chemical exposure. You would have the same device. What Marion I mentioned before, we would change the cartridge on top, and it would just become a lone worker device. And the the the beautiful thing is we can scale, the sensitivities for fall and no motion to fit those for those who work in a lab.
 
Great. Thank you.
 
Next question. Where does an employee turn when the employer does want to invest the funds to establish a safety program?
 
Can you repeat that one again, Robert?
 
Sure. Absolutely. So someone asked, where does an employee turn when the employer wants to invest the funds to establish a safety program? So I guess how to get started, it sounds like.
 
So, really, the the the first thing to get started is, you know, look at your, your overall exposure. You know, the the first step is, to define lone worker, as a company. Whether you meet the legislation standards or if you don't, how is the company going to to define that? Once the company has defined and started down the path of let's investigate lone worker, you could do this in house or you could partner with Blackline Safety. Reach out to us, and we can help you with that process and what that looks like. Everything from implementing lone worker policy down to providing the the 24/7 monitoring. Certainly up to to how you guys and where you wanna invest into.
 
Great. Thank you. Next question. Someone says, are there options to choose specific features of the device?
 
For example, if gas detection or other features were not needed.
 
Absolutely. Yeah. I'll take this one. So, yes, our devices are highly configurable. So every single feature that we've spoken about, So for example, full detection, no motion, as Randall said, those are completely you can have them on, you can have them off, but you can also decide the sensitivity.
 
So for someone getting in and out of vehicles all day, they might want full detection particularly, or I guess, less sensitive. Someone sitting down all day may have that even more sensitive. It it very much depends on the user.
 
And when it comes to gas detection, if you don't need that feature, then you would not need any of these gas sensors and instead have a device that looks something like the one on screen here just by swapping out the cartridge.
 
Ultimately, the the the biggest selling point that I think is valuable from background safety is how configurable our devices is are. Everything when it comes to settings, both hardware, gas settings, everything is completely configurable, and therefore, every single solution is one hundred percent 100% bespoke, not just to your organization, but even per user.
 
Great. Thank you. Next question. Can the G7 work in a confined space environment where abrasive grit blasting will be performed?
 
Yes.
 
Absolutely.
 
For for that confined space, you know, the idea is we want to protect the the PPE. Right? So we have covers that go over top of the lens where you're seeing the the digital display information. Our devices are are very rugged. They're they're found in multiple markets from fire hazmat to oil and gas to confined space and then specifically the, the industry that you're talking about. So, yes, it it will work in those environments, and we have, we have customers that are doing so.
 
Great. Thank you. Someone here is asking, about the specifics of the fall detection feature.
 
So does fall detection result in an immediate call to nine one one, or does the call center check-in with the worker first to confirm that a fall has truly occurred?
 
That's a great question. I'll take that one.
 
So we have, for the vast majority of alerts, everything that isn't a manual latch pull and SOS, there is an opportunity for the user to respond, to cancel that alarm if it was a mistake. So you can imagine someone drops their device by accident, full detection is triggered. If that were to immediately raise a red alarm, then that could be a nuisance.
 
So instead, we have something called a pending period. So the user will be notified via what we call a yellow alarm, a pending alarm, and they have a response time to cancel that alarm. Only if they miss that time does does that then trigger a red alarm and that be escalated to whoever monitors them. And that pending period, how long that wait time is, is one hundred percent configurable, again, to the user, to their environment, and to the employer.
 
And, crucially, what happens when an an alert is received if monitored by Blackline?
 
It is up to you. We will go through a process of decision making, workshopping around what your internal process should be once the call is received from Blackline, but also what is what is required of Blackline. What is the protocol? What would you like us to do when we receive an alarm? Ordinarily, that would be some combination of calling the device itself, trying to reach the user.
 
That might be a silent call. That might be audible dependent on the scenario.
 
When we're talking about full detection, we'd normally try to to get hold of the user to check that they're okay. If they confirm they need help or dispatch or they confirm that they're fine, that would then indicate the steps that we next go to. But, crucially, the, the protocol that Blackline will follow is something that will be agreed with the customer. Then we have a whole host of of bespoke, solutions dependent on an organization.
 
Great. Thank you. Sort of a related question regarding features. Does the device alarm if a person stops moving as if they passed out or had a heart attack or anything like that? In those cases, they wouldn't be able to pull the red latch.
 
Yeah. They certainly can. So, in those cases, again, this is this doesn't require any manual action, only that I need help pull off the latch is an SOS. That's an immediate red alarm.
 
There is a whole host of other sensors within the G7. So for no motion, again, completely configurable, how long a user needs to be still for, how sensitive, the device is to movement, what kind of movement it's looking for, and also that pending period to respond. Ordinarily, we'd recommend about sixty That will immediately go to the monitoring personnel, and they will immediately That will immediately go to the monitoring personnel, and they will immediately try to get hold of the user and with no luck, therefore, follow your, agreed protocol, agreed policy, whether that be dispatching emergency services, reaching other users on-site, whatever it is.
 
So, yes, the majority Great.
 
Great. Thank you. This will be our last question. We're running out of time here.
 
Can these devices be operated while wearing leather gloves?
 
Yes.
 
Yes. So, actually, they're not they're not touchscreen. So all of the buttons are physical. So this latch, you pull.
 
I've operated these using gloves. So, yes, the latch can be pulled. The latch can be pressed. There are buttons on the front here. None of this is touchscreen. All of this is a physical press, which again speaks to how hardy these devices really are. So, yes, they certainly can be used wearing gloves.
 
Excellent. Yeah.
 
We're in the touch screen world, so good good to clarify that as well.
 
I know a lot of the workers do wear gloves or hazmat suits while using devices like this, so it's it's crucial.
 
Absolutely. For sure. Everyone, looks like we're pretty much out of time, so we're gonna end the q and a there.
 
Remember, in the next day or two, we will be emailing you a link to the archived version of this webinar so that you can view it again or share it with a colleague. Before I sign off, I wanna give a couple notes of thanks. Thanks one last time to our sponsor for today's webinar, Blackline Safety, for making today's presentation possible. Also, I wanna thank our speakers, Miriam O'Connell and Randall Arms.
 
Thank you so much for sharing your time and expertise with us today. We had a lot of great questions that kept coming in throughout the Q&A. So, obviously, people were very engaged with this content, so thank you for bringing it to us. And last but not least, I wanna give a special thank you to all of you who listened in and participated with us.
 
You're the reason we do this, so we really appreciate your interest and involvement. With all that said, it is time to sign off. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week. But for now, goodbye until the next occupational health and safety webinar.
 
Thank you so much.
 
Thank you.