SBES, a lone worker protection specialist, has completed installation of its LifeSaver alarm system at the Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS) building at Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire
The site is operated by the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) and is a world class facility that supports the research community by providing access to advanced facilities and extensive scientific and technical expertise.
According to Andy Goulden, an engineer at Daresbury Laboratory, this particular application was unusual as there were two distinct types of lone workers on the site that needed protection.
Firstly, there were CCLRC staff who might be working alone on a shift pattern across a 24/7 period.
Secondly, there were site 'users', members of the research community that come to the building in order to use the SRS.
With 500 staff in total, combined with users moving around the building the potential for a lone worker incident was high.
Indeed the site had experienced an incident where a worker had an accident, but was mercifully able to raise an alarm.
It was this incident that lead CCLRC to specify an 'off-the-shelf' lone worker solution.
However, once in use, the deficiencies of this solution were exposed and Andy and his colleagues began to look for a more robust solution.
The 'off the shelf' solution, while raising an alarm, did not give an indication of where the incident had occurred.
Because of the large size of the building this presented a big problem.
As Andy Goulden says, "In order to get the freedom of movement for people, we needed a system that gave us a much better indication of where people were in trouble".
Having found and been impressed with the virtual demonstration of the LifeSaver system on SBES's website, the company was invited to take part in a competitive tender and came out on top in a decision that took into consideration technical merit, health and safety procedures, documentation and price.
The LifeSaver system that has been installed at CCLRC is a modular system with the capacity to be expanded.
The base station for the system is located in the building's reception which is manned 24hrs a day.
Presently SBES has supplied 25 of its lone worker alarm units and the system has been tested to provide coverage in all the required locations.
If an alarm is activated then the security staff 'accept' the alarm and organise a search.
Due to the information supplied by the LifeSaver base station the staff are directed to the area where the alarm was triggered.
In terms of training, Goulden received training from SBES in how to operate the system and how to wear and store the alarm units.
He now trains the personnel that need to use the lone worker protection system and he says that it only takes around half an hour.
With such a large site to cover CCLRC are looking to expand the system to cover all of the buildings and have no qualms about keeping faith with SBES.
As Andy Goulden says, "SBES is a very efficient company with great technical expertise.
"Their customer service and documentation are absolutely first class too."
