Satellite technology gives utility employees space-age protection

Better worker protection is increasingly legislated worldwide. Having best-possible safety technology to safeguard staff is increasingly necessary for compliance, but fortunately, it’s also proven an inherently valuable investment. They recognise that investing in safety helps attract and retain skilled staff, improves operational efficiencies and can lead to better products and services.

It’s important that staff get the communications and safety tools they need in relation to their working environment. Utility workers often do their jobs in remote, isolated locations where conventional communications networks aren’t reliable. Furthermore, inherently dangerous environments, such as power stations, hydro-electric plants, windfarms or water treatment centres, have a huge bearing on the worker communication and safety solution required. Only satellite communications can deliver truly ubiquitous and uninterrupted reach.

Scottish Water relies on award-winning SPOT satellite messengers to provide communications and safety to employees who work in Scotland’s many regions with unreliable or non-existent mobile coverage.

Hundreds of staff work in remote parts of the country, often solo, managing assets including the reservoirs that supply water to over 2.5 million households and 152,000 businesses. These employees have a communications lifeline wherever they are, with small, robust SPOT devices that communicate reliably over Globalstar’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network.

Pressing SPOT’s SOS button instantly sends an alert and the user’s GPS location over Globalstar’s satellite network, either to an organisation’s designated operations and/or security team for handling. Or, if the organisation chooses, the SPOT 24/7 International Emergency Response Centre is alerted. The Centre then transmits positioning information to local first responders so that help is rapidly dispatched to the user’s precise location.

Scottish Water pre-configured the devices with two services: in an emergency, the user can press SOS, immediately transmitting the user’s location to the company’s internal communications centre. There’s also a help button for non-life-threatening situations, such as a flat tyre. Pressing either one alerts the internal comms centre, which in turn either contacts first responders or locates a nearby Scottish Water team who can help their colleague.

The company chose SPOT because of its ease of use, its robustness and the accuracy of its GPS transmissions. SPOT devices have played a role in over 9,000 rescues worldwide since 2007.

“With reliable satellite communications, we can get help to our employees whenever it is needed and wherever they might be. SPOT is a lifeline providing reassurance to families and colleagues that each lone worker is in safe hands,” said Kes Juskowiak, Water Operations General Manager at Scottish Water.

Globalstar – Utility Week Live 2023 stand B34

https://www.globalstar.com/en-gb