Your Job Role - Operations Manager
As an Operations Manager you are responsible for people, operations, budgets, project delivery and strategy, keeping track of the big picture and identifying potential areas of improvement in your company. That is a lot!
Ok Alone can help with your workload and simplifying some of your tasks by providing an automated safety solution that is easy to run and even easier to use.
Efficiency
After safety, Ok Alone’s main goal for the app was to have it be as straightforward and efficient as possible. There should be as little involvement as possible to run, operate and update the system. With that in mind, Ok Alone developed the check in system that allowed workers to check in or request help with the tap of a button.
The admin side is very easy too, Ok Alone provides templates and wizard’s to upload a workforce’s data to their personal company dashboard. All the information pertaining to a workers personal details, shifts, grouping, alert history and locations is available on the dashboard for Monitors to see.
Range of Devices
The great thing about the Ok Alone lone worker solution is it can be used across such a wide range of devices, whether your lone workers are sat at a desk, driving a logging truck or on the top of a mountain. The Ok Alone app can be used on any IOS or Android smartphone.
Older model phones are also able to use the system through SMS and landlines. If your lone workers are working in locations without wi-fi the Ok Alone system is fully compatible with SPOT and satellite phones. Both the check in system and dashboard are available as a desktop option and will work on tablets, laptops and PC’s.
Safety
The safety of your workforce should be every employers main priority. Providing staff with a lone worker app that runs on smartphones is one of the easiest ways to enhance their safety. Ok Alone’s app has many features, such as; check ins, help button, high risk setting, worker down, multiple location options in real time, escalation procedures and free updates and reports. It also has more specialist features like: start/end shift reminder notifications, worker grouping, safety awards, WhatsApp messaging, Alert Loops, handsfree voice commands, bypass silent settings and extended privacy. Creating a safety culture within your company is crucial to reducing and mitigating risks.
Introducing a new safety measure such as Ok Alone will help create that culture. Having frequent monthly meet ups to announce the results of the Safety Awards will also increase your safety meeting attendance.
Automation
One fantastic feature of Ok Alone is that it can be completely automated, there is no need for a call centre. The system is set up so it works in the background, without you having to think about it, until an alert is triggered. With the Worker plan, supervisors (Monitors) assigned to a worker are contacted simultaneously through phone call, email, SMS and WhatsApp allowing them to respond to the missed check in or Help alert.
With the Comms plan the Alert Loop would be activated and Monitors contacted in sequence until someone accepts and takes responsibility for resolving the alert. These options allow Monitors and Workers to carry on with their day knowing the solution is running behind the scenes. Through switching to automation managers and supervisors get back the time wasted checking in workers manually and will only be called at two o’clock in the morning for a real emergency!
Policies
Lone working policies are logical documents that should be well structured, easy to read, and accessible to those who need it most: your lone employees. No matter what industry the policies cover, there are certain key points every policy needs to include –Applicable Laws, Employee Responsibilities and Risk Assessment.
A well thought out lone worker policy is a vital part of any workplace’s safety strategy. Ok Alone has blank policy templates that can be adapted to suit any workplace. And when combined with the latest in lone worker technology, you and your lone workers will feel confident knowing health and safety is everyone’s top priority.
Reports and Audit trail
Within the Ok Alone system it is incredibly easy to create reports on different subjects. Reports can be created that show any alerts sent, calls or SMS sent and all actions made by workers throughout a shift. The Worker Report section allows you to see Worker Status, App Not Activated, Has Started a Shift, No Shift Started, Last Shift Started and No Location all within set dates. You are also able to create a list of the Workers connected to specific Monitors. Timesheets for specific Workers can be created as well as the ability to upload a csv or excel file with start and end shifts for multiple workers to input their shifts to the dashboard.
An airtight audit trail helps companies with regard to their data and information by keeping track of their lone workers and the actions they take, shifts they work and locations they visit.
Pricing
Ok Alone is fantastic value for money. The Ok Alone system offers a full lone worker solution with our Worker Plan for $10/£7 per worker per month, however some companies choose to add extra features to contact workers and manage alerts. These are available in our Communications Plan, also known as the Comms Plan. The price of both the Worker and Comms plan reduce with higher volumes of workers.
Accounts can be paid monthly, quarterly or annually and run month to month. There are no long term contracts, so you can have Ok Alone when you need it. Payments can be made online using credit cards or other options such as BACS and bank transfers are available.
Engagement
It is much easier to get staff on board with a new idea if they enjoy doing it. The use of gamification has proven results in increasing the participation and engagement of staff with new systems in the workplace. Ok Alone encourages people to use the solution by using an element of competition.
Staff usage of the system’s features is ranked against others within their own company and other companies also using Ok Alone. People can earn badges and titles which offer a positive reinforcement of using the system.
Regular check in, less intervention from management
Using Ok Alone allows lone workers to check in at regular intervals without having to remember to do so. The time between check in’s can span from 5 minutes to 24 hours and is set by the Monitor. The automated countdown clock runs in the background and will trigger an alarm when a check in is due.
This reminds workers to tap on ‘Check In’ to let their Monitor know they are fine. This drastically reduces the amount of time and intervention required by management as the dashboard is constantly updated with their lone worker’s status throughout their shift.