Norfolk’s Breckland Council has rolled out personal safety devices for its 300 staff members as mandatory.
The council said that many of its employees spend time working away from the office, in the field and during unsociable hours and now plans to incorporate the devices from service provider, Peoplesafe, as standard council PPE.
The devices are said to track where staff are and record incidents, with an added Alarm Receiving Centre, alerting emergency services should a difficult situation escalate.
None of Breckland Council’s job descriptions are currently considered ‘high risk’, however Corporate Health and Safety Advisor, Nick Kendrick, said he is strongly encouraging managers to make the devices mandatory PPE for staff out in the field, where the risk assessment has identified a particular risk and where the device will help to enhance safety.
Kendrick added: “Thankfully, we’ve not had to deal with many employees in dangerous situations, but it would only take one accident or incident to change that, and we’re just not prepared to take the risk. We consider a personal safety service a necessity, not a luxury.
“A pair of safety boots can only ever offer limited protection unless you always wear them. Personal safety technology is the same. You may have never had an incident before, but you could in the future and that’s the point.”
