Virtua swaps outdated calls and texts for smartphone app to protect lone working staff

Virtua is a leading provider of bespoke communications infrastructure services to the telecoms, broadcast, data and wireless industries. Virtua’s survey engineers and mobile telecoms engineers regularly visit buildings or greenfield sites alone. This means they can face certain risks, such as, confrontation with the public, working in undesirable areas and health risks. 

Previously, Virtua relied on a buddy system to protect staff, with lone workers calling their managers every hour to check-in. However, this meant that there was no way of monitoring staff in between these calls and locating them in an emergency. It was also very difficult to create an audit trail and document any issues that staff faced.

For Virtua, the wellbeing and safety of their employees has always been a priority for the business. Recognising that lone workers were exposed to greater risk, they set out to further strengthen their safety policy by implementing a lone worker solution. Three years ago, Virtua rolled out StaySafe to their engineering workforce.  
Virtua’s decision to use StaySafe followed on from a recommendation from colleagues within the telecoms industry. As Virtua already uses technology to enhance their operational efficiency, they recognised that an app-based solution would be a far better option. It was important that the app was easy-to-use and all the lone workers could raise issues or concerns at any time. Another important feature was the ‘man down’ feature. If an employee has not moved for a period of time, a non-movement alert is triggered in case there has been an accident.

The StaySafe app is linked to a secure cloud-based monitoring Hub which accurately locates lone workers on a map. Virtua initially monitored their lone workers in-house and then moved to external monitoring. This decision was made because they had engineers working at night and didn’t have the internal capacity to monitor them 24/7.

Joe Welch, QHSE manager at Virtua, said: “In the last month, there has been a rise in members of the public confronting telecoms engineers and threatening them with violence. We’ve always taken the health and safety of all our staff seriously and recognise that our field service engineers are often out on sites alone and may face risks. By partnering with StaySafe, our employees can be confident that they are protected and, in an emergency, they can send for immediate assistance.

“We’ve worked with StaySafe for three years and they’ve been supportive and helpful throughout. We would recommend StaySafe to any other field service company.”

Don Cameron, CEO of StaySafe, commented: “Unfortunately, we’ve seen a recent rise in attacks on telecoms engineers that are simply doing their jobs. In this climate, it’s more important than ever to protect essential lone workers.”

For more information contact: Emma Smee, senior marketing executive, emma.smee@staysafeapp.com / 07395 335684