First Group PLC Case Study
First Group plc have chosen to implement Argyll’s Procare Lone Worker solution, in order to ensure the safety of their platform staff at major train stations throughout Scotland.
The Client
FirstGroup plc is the world’s leading transport operator with annual revenues of over £6 billion and is the leader in safe, reliable, innovative and sustainable transport services – global in scale and local in approach. They employ almost 136,000 staff throughout the UK and North America and transport more than 2.5 billion passengers a year.
In Britain First Group is the largest bus operator. The organisation run more than one in five of all local bus services and has a fleet of nearly 9,000 buses, carrying on average 3 million passengers a day in more than 40 major towns and cities in the UK. In rail travel, First Group’s UK passenger operations include regional, intercity and commuter services including: First Great Western, First ScotRail, First Capital Connect, First TransPennine Express and First Hull Trains, a non-franchised open access operator. First Group also run the Croydon Tramlink network on behalf of Transport for London, carrying nearly 28 million passengers every year and provide freight services through First GBRf.
The Solution
First ScotRail management, in pursuit of meeting their duty of care obligations, followed a rigorous assessment of the risks encountered by their station platform staff. In order to ensure the safety of staff at major stations, such as Edinburgh Waverly and Glasgow Central, an integrated, flexible approach was necessary and it was vital for First ScotRail to work closely with Argyll in order to guarantee an effective solution. After a detailed consultation, the company chose the award winning Procare service to manage platform staff safety requirements.
How it works
Staff utilise the Identicare device backed up by Argyll’s DDA compliant service to dynamically manage their daily risk activities whilst operational on the platforms. The service operates 24/7/365 with dynamic alerts being linked to both Argyll’s BS8484 compliant Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) and to the First ScotRail CCTV control and monitoring centre in Dunfermline. Any staff that may need to carry out a hazardous activity on the platform can activate a higher state of alert on the device which in turn also sends an indication of their status to station camera operators. If necessary, the device user can initiate a full duress situation opening a valuable communications link to the ARC, containing professional incident managers and offering full British Transport Police response if required. Full incident management is handled by Argyll and both audio and visual evidence is then provided to support the organisation in any subsequent prosecutions. This integrated approach provides platform staff with a valuable safety net and peace of mind, allowing them to approach their work with the reassurance and confidence that a comprehensive and reliable Lone Worker solution has been designed specifically to meet their needs whatever difficulties they might encounter.
Further Information
For further information on the Argyll's Procare Service or specialised Lone Worker devices:
