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McKinstry

Construction contractor McKinstry, has partnered with StaySafe to protect their lone workers

McKinstry is a design build contractor who operates in the construction and building industry. Their projects range from active new construction sites, to full-scale renovations, to professional services and consulting offerings.  The company currently has 24 offices across the US. 

For Commissioning Engineers and other Technical Services staff that work at McKinstry, no two days are the same and many employees will often find themselves working in different environments. Some staff will be required to sit at the control front end of a building or move around buildings to look at and test different components. In both instances, staff will be unsupervised and McKinstry recognised that they could be at risk. 

As McKinstry operates in the construction industry, there are a number of hazards that their staff will encounter. Workers are often in mechanical rooms by themselves in the vicinity of moving and electrical equipment. Some workers may also be required to work from height on building roofs or climbing ladders. If a worker were to fall and injure themselves or have an accident with machinery, McKinstry wanted a quick and easy way for staff to get in touch with them. 

Before partnering with StaySafe, the company would conduct risk assessments and encourage staff to communicate with managers before projects began but they soon realised that some scenarios could not be planned for and set out to find a solution that could protect staff who were not covered by existing health and safety policies.  The company was keen to find a solution that could be used across smart devices and didn’t require any additional equipment. They also wanted a panic feature so that employees could quickly signal for help should they need to. After a successful trial with the StaySafe solution, McKinstry decided that it was the best option for their organisation. 

Employees are now confident that if they have an accident at work, monitors will be notified and can send assistance to them. Staff can start a timed session before a period of lone work or travel and check-in at any time to confirm their safety. If an employee fails to end their session safely, a session expiry alert will be sent to the monitor. If a worker has an accident or injures themselves at work, they can send a panic alert through the app which will notify a monitor that they need assistance. The app also provides man down alerts so that managers can detect if an employee has not moved for a prolonged period of time. This feature is particularly useful for staff who have to work from height or in dangerous environments.

Matt Ophardt, Standardisation Programme Manager at McKinstry comments, “The app is great for helping us ensure our staff are kept safe whilst at work. It’s easy to use and the recent changes to the hub have allowed us to tailor the settings to fit our organisation. We’re confident that our staff will be able to call for help should an incident occur”. 

Don Cameron, CEO at StaySafe comments “For staff that work in construction, there are always a number of hazards that they’ll be in contact with. We’re glad to provide a solution that can help mitigate risks to employees”.