Your Job Role - Worker
Companies that are serious about their duty of care provide employees with lone worker systems as part of their personal protective equipment (PPE). This provides workers with support when they are in locations where particular risks cannot be completely avoided.
Lone worker apps, with help buttons and GPS, have proven effective in the event of aggressive or violent behaviour from members of the public. They also allow employees to raise an alarm in any situation where they may feel at risk.
What does the app access on the user's phone?
We take privacy very seriously.
That’s why we are transparent about what we see and collect from worker’s phones, as noted in the Google Play store & the Apple App store.
Ok Alone will only access data from a Worker’s phone with their permission, in compliancy with local privacy laws.
Access is not permitted to phone elements such as the camera, contacts etc.
The Ok Alone Dashboard provides app data in the worker profile, for troubleshooting purposes and in mapping, if permission is granted by the user.
Can the app find me in an emergency?
Ok Alone uses the GPS location data from smartphones to pinpoint a worker’s location in an emergency. There are three GPS settings workers can choose from; GPS High, GPS Normal and Non GPS.
- GPS High uses the phones GPS to provide continuous data updated every 10 seconds and is the most accurate setting.
- GPS Normal updates a location every 1-2 minutes and reduces battery usage while still providing accurate location data in an emergency.
- Non GPS will update the location at regular intervals and maximises battery life, but is not recommended if the worker is frequently moving locations.
GPS location data is primarily for finding workers in an emergency, however, real time locations are available throughout a worker’s shift and can be seen on the Ok Alone dashboard. This information can also be helpful in seeing which other workers are closest to the worker in distress and who could be dispatched the quickest to help.
Who will monitor my account?
When using Ok Alone you will see the word ‘Monitor’ throughout the website, but what does that actually mean?
A monitor is the person within a company who is contacted if a worker doesn’t check in on time or sends a help request. Each worker is assigned to one or more monitors and those monitors are steps within that workers escalation procedure. When a worker fails to check in their escalation procedure is activated, the first step is usually to call the worker. The next step is to call their monitor, usually a supervisor or shift leader. After that a member of management is contacted, the system is designed in this manner so that each contact has more authority and is able to make a decision about whether to send people to look for a worker or contact the emergency services.
Tracking and access to information
Businesses need to be transparent with workers and staff on the extent of their monitoring practices and the use of data locations. It is imperative that workers are shown the need for location information is to keep them safe and help find them in an emergency. They could also benefit from seeing the dashboard view that Monitors can see in an emergency.
Employers need to let staff know which staff members can access their information and the privacy levels issued to their supervisors.
Speed of Response
One of the best features of Ok Alone is the speed in which an emergency can be detected and responded to. There are four main ways an alert can be triggered through Ok Alone: Missed check in, High Risk check in, Man Down and Help.
In each of these cases once a timer has elapsed or a request been made, an alert is sent to the worker’s Monitor. This is to let them know there has been a failure to check in or a request for immediate assistance.
Sending help when unconscious
Ok Alone has the Man down feature that can be set by the worker to a frequency of 3 to 60 minutes. The worker can also choose the sensitivity of the feature from; low, medium or high. If there is no movement from a worker during the chosen period of time an alert is sent to the Monitor. The standard check in or High risk check in’s work in a similar fashion.
If the timer runs down and the check in alarm goes off without a response from the worker an alert will be sent to their Monitor. Both of these features would activate whether the worker was conscious or unconscious.
Legislation
There is different legislation for lone workers in different cities, states, provinces and countries. Some regions are quite progressive in this matter and have specific work-alone legislation in place, while others may follow a more general “duty of care” clause and expect employees to use common sense. Most legislation requires employers to have a way of regularly communicating with staff throughout their shift either by phone or radio.
It is recommended, if possible, supervisors periodically visit or observe lone workers and that the employer or supervisor checks in with lone workers either by sight or verbally at the end of their shift or once specific tasks have been completed. Choosing not to comply with local legislation could result in management being fined, imprisoned or both.
