Safety Apps in the Workplace: Safeguard Equipment’s Emergency Response Solution
The COMPASS ProTM personal voltage and current detector by Safeguard Equipment® has unique detection capabilities. In addition to detecting voltage and current, it can detect specific injury events common among line workers and certain other professionals: falls, head impacts (based on the unit being attached to a hard hat), and arc flashes.
These detection capabilities are valuable in themselves, but the injury detection capabilities are significantly enhanced by Safeguard’s communications app (App). When used together, the App and the COMPASS Pro provide a critical function: an emergency response solution.
Working Around Electricity
As a general rule, people who work around electricity face distinct dangers. For example, a typical line worker’s job will involve being near high-voltage lines and equipment; performing jobs at heights on ladders, poles, or buckets; and being exposed to the elements. Line work is one of the most dangerous professions. The first line of protection for them and all electrical workers is always prevention: using appropriate PPE and tools and thorough training.
The COMPASS Pro is a critical component of PPE. The COMPASS Pro detection device can alert a worker of the presence and location of energized lines with visual and audible signals. While this may seem like an obvious hazard for these workers, the reality is that workers in every field can become desensitized to the dangers they face regularly. More pertinently, this work can be physically and mentally challenging, and it can be challenging to concentrate on completing a task while simultaneously maintaining situational awareness. Consequently, being alerted to the presence of energized lines or equipment is vital to worker safety.
While prevention is essential, the fact remains that accidents happen in dangerous jobs. Common causes of injuries for these workers include accidental contact with energized lines or objects, bad or poorly identified wires, and coming into contact with equipment that has not been properly de-energized. In addition, these workers face dangers from arc fault explosions and falls from heights.
How the Safeguard Equipment App Can Save Lives
The primary role of the Safeguard detection device, the COMPASS Pro, is accident prevention. Although it enhances the usability of the COMPASS Pro’s prevention utilities, the App is designed principally for managing accident response.
The Safeguard Equipment app links a user’s particular detection device with the user’s iOS or Android smartphone. If the unit detects an injury event – specifically: a fall, an arc flash, or a head impact – the App will immediately start a 60-second countdown timer. The purpose of the timer is to allow the user a short window in which to cancel an alert. For example, if the device has been dropped, it may start the countdown timer even though the user has not fallen or received a head impact. Or, if the user has fallen but is not seriously injured, the user can also cancel the alarm.
If the alert is not canceled, the unit will do several things:
- It will notify an internal safety team, designated at the time of App set-up, of the injury event, indicating the event’s time and nature.
- It will activate location data on the smartphone, which gives the safety team accurate geo-location data for the injured worker.
- The App can implement the company’s safety protocols, including alerting nearby workers or emergency services of the need for a medical or other response.
Both the COMPASS Pro unit and the App have SOS buttons that automatically send an alert whenever a user needs assistance. Consequently, the unit can be used even for other emergencies, such as a vehicle accident. The “chat” response presets in the App allow workers to summon help or communicate at the touch of the screen when necessary.
The App’s capabilities are designed to enable emergency response when time is of the essence. Worker injuries can be mitigated when appropriate medical care is rendered quickly. The communication channel enables 911 services to arrive on the scene in record time and assists others already on the scene to obtain the information they need to render appropriate aid.
Safeguard Equipment is a leader in providing innovative solutions for protecting the lives of line workers and others who work around power lines and energized equipment. For more information about our products, including the COMPASS Pro emergency response solution, contact Safeguard Equipment today.