British Frozen Food Federation Adopts SoloProtect Safety Solution

Celebrating 75 years of supporting the frozen food sector, the Federation is also an employer with a team of employees based at Long Bennington in Nottingham.

The BFFF has implemented the SoloProtect solution to ensure the safety of its office workers, who sometimes work alone. They recognise the importance of providing a safe working environment for all their employees, and this new solution is a step towards achieving that goal.

The chosen solution is the state-of-the-art SoloProtect Shield personal safety device that allows employees to signal for help discreetly in the event of an emergency. It is a small and unobtrusive device that can be worn on the body, providing workers with immediate access to emergency response services at the touch of a button.

Commenting on the adoption of the SoloProtect solution, Simon Brentnall, Head of Health and Safety for the Federation, said: "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 previously devised a buddy system where employees would check in at agreed intervals. However, SoloProtect showcased a range of solutions to our members and we decided to replace the buddy system with their innovative lone worker safety technology.

"Following the online training course on SoloProtect Insights, we found the Shield to be very simplistic with its user-friendly touchscreen functionality.

"Typically, employees will use the 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 an operator in the Monitoring Centre who can initiate an appropriate response instantly.

"But other useful features include the Incapacitation Alert (sometimes known as a Man Down Alarm) which is triggered should an employee slip, trip or fall and Ready2Talk which opens a channel with an operator if the user needs some non-emergency support e.g. a suspicious visitor arrives."

The BFFF remind its members that in managing lone working situations, the controls adopted must always be proportionate to the risk and this will be established through a comprehensive lone worker risk assessment.

Simon concludes: "We see this technology becoming more widely used within the food industry to support lone workers and also those who have particularly high-risk, remote or hybrid roles."

Photo: Rupert Ashby, BFFF CEO, using the SoloProtect Device