Wellington City Council choose StaySafe as their dedicated lone worker solution during lock-down

Wellington City Council is a local authority working to facilitate the ongoing development of Wellington and the surrounding areas. 

Wellington City Council has partnered with StaySafe, the innovative lone working solution, to protect the safety of staff that could be at risk during the pandemic. Having been a StaySafe user since 2018, Wellington City Council elected to extend the use of the solution when the country was in lockdown and staff had to travel on rural roads with limited mobile coverage. The partnership allows Wellington City Council to ensure their staff are safe, even in the most remote locations. 

When Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern first announced lockdown across New Zealand in March, all non-essential workers were expected to work from home. Wellington City Council provided a courier service to deliver IT equipment to staff in and around the surrounding area. Managers became concerned for the wellbeing of the couriers as the role required them to travel to different, often rural, locations alone. If an accident were to happen on the road, couriers may not have phone signal and be able to call for help. In addition to this, couriers often have to lift heavy equipment alone and if they had a fall or were injured, managers wanted to be sure they were notified so they could send assistance. 

Prior to StaySafe, the company relied on manual methods of checking in with couriers, including regular phone calls every three to four hours. However, during lock-down, managers realised that this method wasn’t robust enough and didn’t provide the courier with a way to signal for help if in danger.  Since launching StaySafe, managers are now confident that their couriers will be safe whilst out on the road. Employees are able to start a timed session before they begin a period of lone work or travel. StaySafe’s handy check-in feature allows staff to communicate they are safe by simply pressing a button. 

The app provides man-down alerts so that managers can detect if an employee has not moved for a prolonged period of time and contact them to confirm they are safe. StaySafe’s panic alert feature provides employees with a way to quickly notify a manager if they are in a dangerous situation. Their manager can then immediately send assistance to them. If couriers are in an area with minimal coverage, the app will automatically switch to low-signal mode and alerts will continue to be sent to the Hub via SMS. 

Joe McDonald, Recreational Coordinator at Wellington City council comments, “The StaySafe app has been a great addition to our current health and safety measures.  StaySafe rolled out the implementation quickly and our account manager was on hand to answer any questions we had. The app is easy to use and the low signal mode gives us confidence that staff will be protected even in areas of poor phone coverage. We feel much safer knowing that staff can signal for help if any accidents were to happen at work”.

Don Cameron, CEO at StaySafe adds, “During the pandemic, organisations are adopting new ways of working, with many employers responsible for lone and remote workers for the first time. Lone workers are particularly vulnerable in the event of an accident as there is no one to raise the alarm.  StaySafe offers peace of mind to both employers and staff that if an incident occurs, they can respond quickly and accurately to prevent situations from escalating”.