While many people focus on the changing season by looking forward to cooler weather and the coming of the holidays, utility companies and other disaster response crews are focusing on something else: they are contemplating the arrival of storms, wind, hurricanes, and blizzards. They don’t know where or when they will occur, but they must respond to disasters of all types and magnitudes.
Without anyone noticing, these professionals are doing the necessary groundwork and preparation: inspecting lines, poles, transformers, and substations; making repairs, additions, and upgrades to their equipment. They’re checking to ensure that tools are in working order and that their Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is free from any tears, holes, or cracks. All equipment must be working properly, fully operational, and ready to go.
But this year, with Safeguard Equipment’s latest safety solution, the COMPASS ProTM, storm crews, and utility companies can be more prepared than ever.
COMPASS Pro: Not Your Average PVD
The COMPASS Pro is the latest safety solution from Safeguard Equipment. It offers the most advanced capabilities of any personal voltage and current detector (PVCD) by providing an integrated safety response solution.
Safeguard Equipment developed the first-ever hard-hat mounted voltage and current detector, COMPASS®. It’s a “sixth sense” for workers by providing alerts when dangerous electrical threats are within reach. The device is a robust, compact unit that works in all weather conditions. The only PVCD that provides a directional indicator to notify users of the source from which an electrical field emanates.
The unique ability to detect the source of an electrical field has enabled Safeguard Equipment to develop the Smart Adaptive feature, a setting in COMPASS designed for those who work around energized lines. In the Smart Adaptive Mode, the unit senses the presence of an electrical field but only activates an alert (both visual and audial) when the user moves closer to the energized source or the electrical field increases. Any time the user stops in a given position at a particular voltage strength, the unit will reset itself to the new field strength. In this mode, users are not distracted by constant alerts and are only alerted when the danger increases.
The new COMPASS Pro is bringing all the best safety features of the current COMPASS line of PVCDs to a new level. In addition to detection capabilities, the COMPASS Pro device now has additional crisis detection and emergency response capabilities with its cutting-edge software-enabled service powered through the Safeguard Equipment app.
Every year, more than 30,000 workers in the United States are killed or injured by contact with energized lines during their jobs. That is only a fraction of the total amount of work-related injuries and fatalities that occur yearly in the United States. COMPASS Pro addresses the most common causes of these worker injuries and deaths through its advanced detection and response capabilities. Arc flash, fall, impact-to-head, and man-down detection are all built into the hard-hat mounted device. When a crisis occurs, COMPASS Pro immediately notifies and facilitates rapid response from the user’s home-office staff and work crews via the Safeguard Equipment software-interface app.
How the Emergency Response Service Works
When COMPASS Pro detects an emergency event, the Safeguard Equipment Bluetooth® enabled App will activate a series of pre-set responses allowing the user to summon immediate help or indicate that no help is needed. If the user does not respond or cancels the alert within 60 seconds, the software will notify the user’s designated response team about the crisis by sending SMS messaging and push notifications to their cellular devices. The App then establishes a direct communication channel for the response personnel. It will provide the injured user’s location, and crisis type, and prompt the team to check in and summon 911 assistance if needed.
In addition to arc flash, fall, and impact detection, COMPASS Pro’s hardware includes an SOS button that allows users to summon support regardless of the cause. Users can use this feature for any crisis event, such as a car accident, heart attack, or other injury or situation that demands an immediate response.
Doctors and EMTs repeatedly emphasize that one of the most critical factors in the survivability of a severe injury is the time between the actual event and getting appropriate medical attention. Response time is especially vital in electric-related accidents, which can result in severe burns, heart stoppage, internal tissue damage, and neural damage.
The COMPASS Pro’s advanced detection capabilities coupled with the emergency response service will eliminate delays resulting from confusion, miscommunication, panic, or simply a lack of awareness when a worker is injured. When emergency help is needed, the COMPASS Pro emergency response solution will ensure it gets there.
For more information about the COMPASS Pro or to get a live demonstration, contact Safeguard Equipment today.