Housing Associations Rely on Argyll for Staff Safety

Argyll, the UK leaders in lone worker safety, is quickly becoming the service provider of choice amongst Britain’s Housing sector. Grampian Housing near Aberdeen, Loretto Care in Glasgow, Hafan Cymru in Carmarthen, and Ocean Housing in St Austell are amongst some of the latest additions to our growing Housing Association and Registered Social Landlord client portfolio.

These organisations are run on very tight budgets and consequently it is important that they obtain a tangible benefit in the deployment of any technology based service. Argyll offers an immediate reduction in the cost of managing lone workers and improves efficiency through an outsourced incident management process. The system also supports multiple devices, including mobiles phones and Smart-phones which can alleviate mass deployment of expensive specialised devices and provides the potential for additional resource management benefits using GPS technology to identify service delivery and create timesheets etc.  The solution enables management teams to fulfil their ‘duty of care’ obligations, comply with best practice British Standard 8484 for the safety of Lone Workers and ensure a police response via Argyll’s BS5979 CATII ARC if required whilst offering the business a tangible return on investment case.

A member of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Argyll currently provides lone worker safety and out of hours emergency call handling services for organisations within the UK Housing and Registered Social Landlord sector.  

Many of the UK’s housing associations deal with those who are deemed most vulnerable within our society and may include substance misusers, people experiencing mental health difficulties, vulnerable persons and homeless people looking to rebuild their lives as well as older people and people who require additional support to live an independent life.

In addition to providing suitable accommodation and maintenance of a property to meet long term housing needs, Housing Associations can also be involved in providing short term accommodation for ex offenders and many offer a refuge for victims of domestic abuse. They become responsible for providing more than just a shelter but also provide a broad spectrum of services offering help, support and guidance to their clients.

Housing Association employees can, therefore, be particularly vulnerable operating within the community and along with the risk of accidents may also find themselves the victims of verbal or physical abuse, intimidation, robbery or even hostage scenarios.

Staff can now provide a more effective and efficient service to the public safe in the knowledge that they are protected against the potential threat of aggression which can be attached to lone working.