Safety should always be the number one concern of any business, whether this is safety for workers or customers; whether in a hazardous environment or retail setting.
When things go wrong, and someone needs help, having robust and reliable communications is vital to ensuring help gets to the people who need it, as soon as they need it.
In the past these kinds of communication networks have been difficult to create for businesses because they are operating with legacy analogue radios which are more likely to suffer from interference, or more recently use mobile phones which can often lose signal.
More recently, digital two-way radios have moved in to the fill the void and are successfully providing increased safety to allow communication amongst workforces, without blowing the budget.
In this blog we lay out a few of the ways that digital two-way radios are helping keep employees and workers safe and ensure critical communication when needed.
Contactable in an emergency
Being able to communicate and get in touch with employees during an emergency is the most important thing to consider when looking at safety at work. You might have the staff on hand to deal with an issue, but if people don't know where to go, or what the problem is they won't be much use.
Mobile phones are unreliable because they rely on a cellular network and the proximity of a cell mast as signal, which in isolated environments are extremely unreliable.
Digital two-way radios provide more resilience as they are not relying on a cellular network. A digital radio system complete with an on-site repeater base station will provide and clear communications for assurance that critical issues are covered.
Man Down and Lone Worker
Early alerting of emergency situation to other workers can be the difference between life and death when an employee gets into difficulty, especially when they are alone and working in remote areas.
Mobile phones are not a reliable way to send an emergency signal because they rely on the individual worker to physically communicate that they are in trouble and may not have a signal. If they are incapacitated this is just not feasible.
Digital two-way radio features like Man Down and Lone Worker are designed specifically to raise these early alerts and ensure help can be sent as soon as possible.
Man Down for instance is a feature which triggers an emergency alert if a radio remains still for a certain period or moves into an horizontal position, alerting that a worker may have become incapacitated and calling for help.
The Lone Worker feature requires a worker to communicate within a pre-defined time. If not, the radio will then go into ‘emergency mode’. Using a loud audible tone the radio will warn the user to respond, if they do not, it will set the emergency procedure into play, the radio controller and other users will then be notified.
Push-to-Talk
Often in emergency situations it can be necessary for entire teams to need to communicate, rather than one employee communicating with another in a one-to-one situation.
Digital two-way radios enable for instantaneous communication between teams by using a single orange button, ensuring everyone who needs to be is alerted to an incident or a colleague in trouble, can be given help quickly as possible.
Features like the large PPT button on MOTOTRBO radios take this ease of use even further and ensures instant team communication is possible no matter where or in what environment workers find themselves in.
Rugged Design
Being able to communicate in an emergency situation is a basic part of any response plan and having equipment which can stand up to the wear and tear of use within a hazardous environment or hectic emergency situation is just as important.
Modern digital two-way radios are specifically tested to withstand these pressures and continue working even under heavy use. Unlike mobile phones, which are designed for consumers and can easily break when dropped, digital two-way radios are built to specifically withstand use within challenging environment. Radios are tested to military standard and most are waterproof to IP68 rating.
Along with this, features such as GPS tracking and location monitoring can be enabled with additional software and means workers can always be identified by their location and redeployed if necessary.
What digital two-way radios have in common over their analogue counterparts or mobile phones is that all of the features within this blog can be equipped into a single unit, creating a reliable system businesses need to ensure their workforce and customers are protected at all times.
To find out more about how two-way radios can be deployed within a business and how they protect employees and customers, click here