WHAT IS MAN DOWN?
So, what exaclty means man down?
As you can suppose from the definition of the phrase, it is a condition when a man falls down due to specific reasons such as accident, slip, physical assault, etc.
Lone Workers face more difficult working conditions than other workers, as there is no external help or supervision. As a result they are prone to a man down situation. However, the most signifacnt issue is not if a worker is involved in a man down situation. It may be a common condition, either for a Lone Worker or for a simple worker. The main issue is the way that we can prevent or come up with a man down incident.
| COMMON WORKERS | LONE WORKERS |
| Other co-workers may realize the potential danger and warn, advise or prevent the worker from falling down.
Man down means that the co-workers will immediately help the worker. |
There are no other co-workers or supervisors near the Lone Worker so as to take care and prevent him.
Man down means that nobody will see the lone worker falling down. |
Getting into consideration the above layout, we can easily realize that Lone Workers are absolutely exhibited to a man down danger without any supervision near them. It is obvious that a potential workplace accident is not only more possible but also more difficult to be overcame.
Before diving into the subject, lets’ have a look at the most common workplace accidents.
MOST COMMON WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS
People work so as to improve their life status and not so as to set their life under danger. It is really hard to be witness in workplace accidents knowing that if all prevention measuers had been taken, these accidents could have been avoided.
Investing in a lone worker solution, Lone Workers will not be totally alone during their work schedule. There are remote supervisors who receive real-time notifications about lone workers problems, activities, dangers and any other issue arises during their work. Monitoring and supervision means better prevention and better and faster action in case of a danger.
Which are the most common workplace accidents especially for Lone Workers?
Falling from a height- Slipping
- Physical or mental assault
So, which is the prevention policy in case of workplace accidents so as to prevent a Lone Worker from a man down situation?
HOW TO PREVENT FROM A MAN DOWN CONDITION?
Preventing a workplace accident which includes the falling of the worker is related to the equipment he carries or wears, with regard to the conditions he operates (e.g. wearing the appropriate shoes taking into account the terrain, the road, rain or snow, etc. In case he is the victim of an assault during his daily schedule, it is necessary to be aware of his location and exact GPS position so that the managing staff can give directions to othe workers to reach the location.
Is it enough?
Of course not. It is a common problem that the Lone Worker will not be able to inform about the accident he is involved in. It means that he will not be in good enough physical condition and the managing staff should take immediate action to help him.
This scenario is maybe disastrous as it may have terrible consequences. We realize now that even if the company commits a Lone Worker system, it is not enough if the system does not support automatic man down notifications.
What is a man down alarm?
Man Down Alarm is a protection system especially designed to send real-time notifications to the managing staff in case a Lone Worker is engaged in an accident wich includes a man down situation.
We can now understand the real benefits of a Man Down Alarm system commitment:
- Before a man down condition, the managing staff is aware where exaclty the Lone Worker is located. It means that when a man down notification is active, the monitoring center is fully aware of the exact GPS position of the Lone Worker.
- When the Lone Worker falls down, the system sends real-time notification without the need to press a button (fully automated system). It is the core function of a man down alarm which allows the automated protection of the Lone Worker.
HOW A MAN DOWN ALARM WORKS
To set a technical approach to the Man Down functionality, it will be triggered when the guard is suddenly having higher velocity without getting acceleration by any other force than gravity. When a Man Down occurs, the sensor will “scan” for a crash and in case it has happened, an appropriate event will be sent.
When a Man Down is activated, a pop-up window will appear on the mobile application for 10 seconds. Within this time interval, the Guard / Lone Worker can undo the sending of a Man Down event, by filling in the PIN number. In case it’s a demo account, just press on the Cancel button and the event will not be sent.
Man down functionality can also detect if the Guard / Lone Worker does not move at all for more than 90 seconds but stays connected with the device. A thorough examination of this case concludes that it would be probably a Man Down event. If it is not a Man down event, the user can cancel it by the same way as mentioned above.
