Facility Maintenance | GPS Geo Guard

Lone and High-Risk Worker Safety Protection for Facility Maintenance Workforce

Facilities often involve a mix of buildings and surrounds that vary in design, construction technique, age, quality and materials. This diversity presents a number of challenges.

The team at GPS Geo Guard have worked with all areas of facility maintenance workforce to deploy a tailor made GPS Geo Guard solution to help mitigate risk.

Main risks in Facility Maintenance

Facility maintenance workers face two main risk profiles:

Social Risk

Being that of work place violence and aggressive behavior; physical or verbal assault

Physical Risk

Slip/trip/fall/person down or incapacity, unconsciousness, accident or incident, or even a medical situation

WHY EVERYONE IS CHOOSING GPS GEO GUARD

Implementing the GPS Geo Guard Personal Safety Solution can deliver safety benefits to the facility maintenance workers, but also help department managers and the wider organisation deliver genuine value to the employer in terms of safety, quicker emergency response, operational and increasing staff moral knowing they have something just in case.

Working after hours on facilities

Unknown facilities risk profile

Dealing with public after hours

Routine inspections of the property

Maintenance

Electrocution working

Working in confined spaces

Emergency after hours

Benefits of using Gps Geo Guard Solution in Facility Maintenance sector

Helping customers to:

Give 100% peace of mind to mobile workforce staff and lone or high-risk workers with 24/7 instant Emergency Alarm Monitoring and support, with the GPS Geo Guard discreet personal safety devices

Document verbal abuse with live and recorded audio to stop the “he said, she said” situation and verbal assault; best practice for internal discipline or escalation to Police

Deliver protection against person down, slips/trips/falls, incapacitation, or medical emergency incident

Get instant continuous up to date location information to assist better coordination across mobile teams and reallocation of workforce

Deliver up to date live reporting to key stakeholders on GPS Geo Guard Device and solution usage, for 100% user uptake and better business or organisation’s continuity

Greater visibility and enhanced safety protocols and procedures around the use of the GPS Geo Guard of any mobile workforce

Creating a positive Safety Culture and encouraging your workforce to report incidents, and document them effectively enhancing faster responses and better outcomes.

Assessing the risks

Working alone or remotely increases the risk of any job. Exposure to violence and poor access to emergency assistance are the main hazards that increase the risk of remote or isolated work. The following factors should be considered when assessing the risks:

The length of time the person may be working alone

How long would the person need to be alone to finish the job?

The time of day when a person may be working alone

Is there increased risk at certain times of day? For example, a service station attendant working alone late at night may be at greater risk of exposure to violence.

Communication

What forms of communication does the worker have access to?
Are there procedures for regular contact with the worker?
Will the emergency communication system work properly in all situations?
If communication systems are vehicle-based, what arrangements are there to cover the worker when he or she is away from the vehicle?

Training, information and instruction – workers need training to prepare them for working alone and, where relevant, in remote locations. For example, training in dealing with potentially aggressive clients, using communications systems, administering first aid, obtaining emergency assistance driving off-road vehicles or bush survival.

As per the MANAGING THE WORK ENVIRONMENT AND FACILITIES Code of Practice

A person conducting a business or undertaking has the primary duty under the WHS Act to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers and other persons are not exposed to health and safety risks arising from the business or undertaking.

The WHS regulations place more specific obligations on a person conducting a business or undertaking in relation to the work environment and facilities for workers, including requirements to:

ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the layout of the workplace, lighting and ventilation enables workers to carry out work without risks to health and safety

ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the provision of adequate facilities for workers, including toilets, drinking water, washing and eating facilities

manage risks associated with remote and isolated work

prepare emergency plans.

Persons conducting a business or undertaking who have management or control of a workplace must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the workplace, the means of entering and exiting the workplace and anything arising from the workplace is without health and safety risks to any person.

This means that the duty to provide and maintain a safe work environment and adequate facilities may be shared between duty holders, for example a business leasing premises will share the duty with the landlord or property manager of the premises. In these situations, the duty holders must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, co-operate and co-ordinate activities with each other.

Persons who design and construct buildings and structures that are intended to be used as workplaces must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the building or structure is without risks to health and safety.

Officers

such as company directors, have a duty to exercise due diligence to ensure that the business or undertaking complies with the WHS Act and Regulations. This includes taking reasonable steps to ensure that the business or undertaking has and uses appropriate resources and processes to provide and maintain a safe work environment and adequate facilities for workers.

Workers

have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that they do not adversely affect the health and safety of other persons. Workers must comply with any reasonable instruction and cooperate with any reasonable policy or procedure relating to health and safety at the workplace.

For more specific information about providing facilities at construction sites, refer to the Code of Practice: Managing Risks in Construction Work.

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