Link is a Housing Association in the central belt of Scotland, which provides low cost housing and staff to support service users in their own accommodation.
Staff members from two of the subsidiary services are required to carry out their role remote from the support of other staff. These identified lone worker roles were risk assessed and control measures were put in place to reduce the risk. Two of the control measures we took were training staff on lone working procedures and the introduction of the Guardian24 system.
"The Guardian24 system was chosen as it is easy to use with no additional equipment required (mobile phones were already provided for staff). We have reviewed other systems but feel Guardian24 meets our needs, and from a customer service perspective the helpful Guardian24 team answer all queries quickly and efficiently."
Brian Gippert – Health & Safety Officer
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The Social Work Service in Fife Council provides services to over 22,000 people each year. We have been using Guardian24 since 2003 and have recently signed up for another 3 year contract for 3000 users.
Service Manager Jon Bolton explains: "Violence against our staff is a real concern and one we have a responsibility to take very seriously. This is not a new problem, or a problem that just affects Fife. We have over 5000 employees delivering crucial services to vulnerable people and their families - often when they are desperate for help and support. It is a sad reality that, in some cases, these employees may also find themselves facing difficult and potentially threatening situations."
Gill Kirk, administrator of Guardian24 in Fife. She adds, "We have a duty to work alongside our staff, listen to their experiences and not only provide them with essential training, but explore other practical ways we can keep them safe while they are at work. Guardian24 is an excellent safety monitoring system for our Social Work staff who work alone. It gives our staff confidence and security when walking into unknown situations without the back up of colleagues. The Guardian24 website allows us to take control of the administration side of the system and is simple and easy to use. However, the team at Guardian24 are always happy to assist when we are unable to update the website ourselves and are always on hand for any problems our users have with the 24 hour helpdesk service."
HomeGroup, one of the leading providers of affordable and supported housing for people in the UK. Delivering improvements to communities and providing homes for those who may struggle to get them.HomeGroup manages 52,000 homes and provides care and support services to more than 20,000 people across the UK each year.
"We began using Guardian24 when we set up a new Floating Support Service in Norfolk in April of 2007. We found the service really easy to set up with every part of the process explained in full. Representatives from Guardian24 came to spend time with us to give us full training on how to implement and use the system. We were also given a supply of the instruction booklets and materials we would need to show our staff how to use Guardian24 effectively."
"The system has been in constant use ever since. For us it is an essential tool in keeping our staff safe and using it at every client visit is now a mandatory part of our local Lone Working Policy. I know our support workers find it very reassuring to know that their whereabouts are known and that alarms can be raised so promptly to ensure their wellbeing. Whenever we have to contact Guardian24 to add new numbers or change details, our enquiries are always responded to very quickly and everyone we have spoken to has been helpful and professional in dealing with our contract."
"We have also found the extra services of SMS messaging offered through the website to be an invaluable way of communicating with our teams across the area." Rachel Cane – Area Business Administrator