Q&A With a SafetyLine Customer: City of St. John’s

Prior to SafetyLine, people working alone at the water treatment plants in St. John’s, Newfoundland, relied on call centers and self-discipline to confirm their safety with their employer. However, The City of St John’s Department of public works and Water Treatment decided they needed a better solution for their employees’ safety and found that SafetyLine’s suite of safety tools best suited their occupational health and safety needs.

We spoke to Shawn Haye, water treatment manager with the City of St. John’s, which includes two water treatment plants where at least one employee uses SafetyLine for protection daily.

What types of challenges were you facing with your former lone worker safety system? 

“[Our old system] was working to a point, but there was always that room for the human element. There was always that room for error where our operator did not always call in on the hour – our benchmark was that you had to check in every hour. [The workers] weren’t always calling in on time, and nobody was checking in on them, and it became a bit of a struggle to make that system work for us.”

How has SafetyLine helped your operations?   

“The beauty of it is that when a worker is busy and working alone in a water treatment plant, which is more or less a concrete bunker, there is often little to no cell coverage – SafetyLine will check on you even without cell reception. It makes it a lot easier and saves a lot of time in their day not having to talk to someone and just press a button to say they’re ok.”

How has SafetyLine benefited your employees? 

“Our employees recognize it is for their safety, and they want to make sure they make it home safe every day and that somebody’s looking out for them.”

SafetyLine as a solution 

Shawn Haye says that SafetyLine has improved their lone workers' occupational health and safety, ensuring they check-in and, therefore, allowing the employer to ensure they are ok.

“Our old system, as far as I’m concerned, had too many problems and like the human element and the fact that people become complacent and forget to check in,” Haye says. “[SafetyLine] has taken all that out of the window and is a much better solution.”

SafetyLine is an integral component of any successful safety program that monitors the well-being of those working alone in the water and water treatment industries. Automated and cloud-based, SafetyLine will prompt lone workers to check in with their employer at predetermined times and send customized notifications when check-in is missed. Additionally, with every check-in, the employer and monitor will be sent the longe worker’s location, work-related correspondence, and other useful information about their circumstances.

Haye and his team of lone water treatment workers have found that SafetyLine is easy to use, allowing them to focus on their work and the water. The reliable notification and automated check-in system allow Haye to ensure his lone workers are safe during the week and weekend. But most importantly, the SafetyLine system demonstrates that their well-being is a priority at the organization.