Maintenance
Remote workers are guarded by an Angel GUARDIAN ANGEL SAFETY DELIVERS RELIABLE END-TO-END NETWORK, HARDWARE AND SAFETY-MONITORING SOLUTIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF LONE WORKERS.
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one workers are considered those who work by themselves or in the community with only limited support arrangements, exposed to risk by being isolated from the usual back-up support. The potential risk of any serious injury from existing hazards is increased in these unique working environments, and such a situation requires additional precautions. A major danger for remote or isolated workers is sustaining an injury that precludes self- rescue, such as overnight or during weekends or holidays, where assistance from other people may be limited. Guardian Angel Safety’s founder and chief executive officer Petra Håkansson is passionate about the need to establish and maintain the safety and security of isolated workers engaged in various activities, often in remote settings,. With more than two decades spent working with an array of emergency communications technologies, principally GPS-based systems, Håkansson has extensive experience in the research, development, and implementation of tailored emergency monitoring solutions, as well as the regulatory landscape that employers are required to meet. “We now provide critical response solutions to 30 per cent of all New Zealand councils, the country’s primary workplace health and safety regulator, WorkSafe, as well as Suncorp Group in Australia,” Håkansson told Safe to Work.
“Currently, we have a series of pilot programs underway with councils across Australia and our EVERYWHERE solution, a global situational awareness platform utilising Garmin and Iridium devices as well as the Iridium satellite constellation, Wi-Fi and cellular networks, is deployed extensively across the Australian mining industry.” The company recently launched the Guardian Angel Portal with the aim of creating a more responsive, flexible and secure operational approach to the everchanging safety requirements of solitary and remote workers. The new portal enables the ability to securely view and manage all safety devices, data and planning for workers in real-time via a simple and intuitive interface with the ability to send immediate notifications to the most appropriate emergency services. “Our portal provides our clients with a single source of aggregated information, enabling them to efficiently monitor and manage their workers,” Håkansson said. The 24–7 real-time monitoring feature embedded in the Guardian Angel Portal results in a trustworthy end-to-end remote safety solution that ensures employers can deliver a high duty of care for the safety of their workforce. “Connectivity and productivity are amplified, with our clients able to securely view and manage all safety devices and systems in real-time and in one place, including satellite devices, smartphone applications, cellular
pendants, vehicle impact and rollover alerts, many location-based services, and APIs (application programming interfaces),” Håkansson said. “The portal is hardware-agnostic, ensuring we can leverage new safety devices and technology innovations, providing our clients with the most upto-date safety solution based upon their specific requirements.” Workers’ ability to make contact with support services is vitally important, particularly in cases of emergency, and a robust and trustworthy communications system is required to do so in a reliable way. The type of system chosen will depend on factors such as the distance from ‘home base’, the environment in which the worker will be located or through which they will be travelling (ie the terrain), expected environmental conditions, and access to power (to recharge batteries).
SAFETOWORK.COM.AU 28 JAN—FEB 2023
Guardian Angel matches risk and environment to its most appropriate hardware and processes.