The BFFF are just celebrating their 75^th anniversary and support the frozen sector. The Federation has a team of employees based at Long Bennington in Nottinghamshire.

Simon Brentnall Head of Health & Safety for the Federation states:

‘As a responsible employer we are committed to ensuring our team are safe, employees working alone should not be any more at risk than those working in an office full of colleagues.

We identified that lone working at the office was rare however, it’s still a risk to be managed. We had devised a buddy system where employees would check in at agreed intervals. Solo Protect had previously showcased a range of solutions to our members therefore it made sense to utilise this new technology. Following the online training course, we found the unit very simplistic with its touch screen functionality.

Typically, employees will use the Solo Protect Shield device if starting work early in the morning or working late at night. Generally, this device gives peace of mind with its ‘Red Alert’ function which connects to a monitoring centre who can initiate an appropriate response instantly.

Other useful feature includes the ‘Incapacitation Alert’ which is triggered should an employee slip, trip or fall. In addition, the ‘Ready2Talk’ feature opens a 2-way non-emergency channel of communication should an unexpected visitor arrive’

BFFF remind its members that in managing lone working situations, the controls adopted must always be proportionate to the risk.

We see this technology becoming more widely used within the industry with the increase in hybrid working’