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An Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), also known as an Incident Management Centre (IMC) is a purpose-built facility to monitor a range of systems including alarms and cameras. ARCs are manned by trained controllers 24/7, 365 days a year who will receive the alarms and contact the relevant emergency service if necessary.
Every certified lone worker solution will have to utilise an accredited ARC as part of their service to handle any alarms raised by users. Choosing a provider that has their own dedicated Alarm Receiving Centre could benefit your business and the employees you’re looking to protect.
Only Manage Lone Worker Alarms
The main advantage of having an ARC dedicated to lone working devices is that it will only manage lone worker alarms. Typically, most ARCs will receive alerts from a variety of systems including burglar alarms, fire alarms and CCTV footage. These ARCs might also be employed to monitor and respond to lone worker devices as a secondary service.
By only having one type
All employers have a responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people they employ.
Typically, businesses tend to focus on the physical risks that can impact the safety of their employees, such as falling down stairs or slipping on a wet floor.
The topic of mental health is commonly overlooked in the workplace with poor mental health often difficult to recognise.
Despite this, evaluating and monitoring mental health is a fundamental part of an employer’s duty of care.
In addition, many people suffering with a mental health condition fail to express the way they’re feeling as a result of fear or the absence of an appropriate channel.
Research carried out for the British Occupational Health Research Foundation (BOHRF) in 2010 found that 64% of remote lone workers face psychological distress which has a knock-on effect to their mental health. While they may be ‘out of sight’, it’s important that they don’t become ‘out of mind’.
We’ve put
Personal safety devices can make all the difference in a potentially life-threatening situation, but under what circumstances should you raise the alarm?
It’s essential to use your own personal judgement in deciding when it’s appropriate to raise an alert as all situations are different. As a general guide, if there is a clear emergency, you’ve had an accident or your safety is at risk, then you should reach for your device immediately.
Scenarios where you should activate your personal safety device or app include:
If there is an emergency and you need urgent assistance
If there’s a danger to life or someone’s safety is at risk
If you’ve had a serious accident and require help
If you feel threatened
If you suffer a severe health problem
Of course, these are just guidelines. Remember that in all cases you should trust your instincts and press the SOS button if you feel it is necessary. If you raise an alert and it turns out to be a false alarm – don’t worry. Simply
When faced with threatening situations, protecting yourself is a basic human instinct – but not everyone knows what is considered appropriate action when defending themselves.
Many of us encounter situations where circumstances dictate that we need to physically protect ourselves or others. This may be in our personal lives, but it can also occur in the workplace, for example if an angry customer becomes violent.
If this happens you may have to think on your feet and act quickly, so it’s useful to know the boundaries of what you can and can’t do, to help give you the confidence to make the right decision in the moment.
What does the law say?
Legally there’s no specific definition of reasonable force as this is judged on a case by case basis. However if you can prove that your actions were necessary given what you thought at the time, then this is acceptable and you have acted within the law.
In the UK, anyone can use reasonable force to protect themselves or others if a crime is taking place. This
In the UK it’s estimated that over 6 million of us are lone workers, but what does this mean and what exactly counts as lone working?
According to the Health and Safety Executive, by definition a lone worker is someone who works by themselves without close or direct supervision.
Lone Workers are all around us, they are the nurses working in the community, the shopkeepers in our local store, the engineer that fixes our faulty boiler and the delivery driver that brings us a takeaway.
For somebody to be a lone worker it doesn’t mean they have to be completely alone in isolation all of the time. If an employee cannot be seen or heard by a colleague then they are technically lone working, even if it’s just for a brief period of time.
In fact, most of us have probably found ourselves lone working from time to time without even realising it.
Lone Workers Can Be Vulnerable
The danger with working alone is that if something were to go wrong (such as an accident, injury, sudden
