Personal GPS Tracking Devices

Lone Worker GPS Tracking and Panic Alarm Devices

During 2009, the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released an updated version of its 'Working Alone' advice leaflet INDG73(rev2), which covers health and safety advice on the risks of lone working.

Moreover, in the UK, there is now a British Standard (BS8484) Code of Practice for the provision of lone worker device (LWD) services. This standard has set a benchmark against which all LWD services can and should be measured.

Section 5 of the BS8484 standard specifically covers the lone worker device itself (communications network, LWD functionality and LWD user training, whilst section 6 deals with the Alarm receiving centre (ARC).

The increrased visibility of best-practice guidance means that organisations can be better informed when implementing a lone worker device service.

In practice, the device itself may be a dedicated GPS tracking and communications device (such as the Foretrack Mambo2) or a software application installed on a standard GPS enabled mobile phone such as a Blackberry™.

Devices for Business Process Efficiency

A second motivation for the adoption of personal tracking units is for an organisation to be able to maintain an up-to-date view of the whereabouts of its operational people, whether they are working through appointments at different clients' sites, or otherwise travelling in the course of their work.

In such cases, it is most likely that staff will need access to a mobile phone in the course of their work, and it is therefore more efficient and cost effective to enhance their phone so that it can be tracked during working hours, rather than issue people with a separate piece of tracking hardware.

Mobile phone tracking or specifically Blackberry™ tracking is therefore a much more common application where Health and Safety is not the primary driver.

Call us now on 01473 487787 to find out more about how personal GPS tracking devices can work for your business.