Q&A With a SafetyLine Customer: PLEA Community Services

When Bernie Agg founded PLEA Community Services in 1979, he envisioned an organization where everyone has the opportunity for a good life and everyone counts. More than four decades later, that vision continues to guide PLEA’s work across B.C., supporting children, youth, adults, and families through a wide range of community-based programs.

To deliver those services safely, PLEA relies on team of over 260 staff who often work independently in community settings. To help keep them connected and protected, PLEA uses SafetyLine Lone Worker and its suite of safety tools.

We spoke with Erin Harvie, Director of Specialized Homes at PLEA Community Services, about how SafetyLine has supported compliance, strengthened safety practices, and made day-to-day operations smoother for staff and managers alike.

What challenges were you facing with lone worker safety before implementing SafetyLine Lone Worker? 

“Our staff typically work one-on-one with individuals in community settings, so it’s vital that we have a reliable system to make sure everyone is safe. Before SafetyLine, managers carried a lot of the mental load — remembering to check in with staff throughout the day and ensuring those check-ins happened consistently. We also ran into practical issues: for example, if someone was delayed or a message was missed, there wasn’t always a clear way to know whether they were safe.

With SafetyLine, check-in reminders are automated, and alert features give both employees and managers peace of mind that help is always available if it’s needed. Employees can shorten the check-in timeframe, send their GPS location and leave a voice/text message about their whereabouts, hazards, and work activities if that helps them feel safer. Having a dedicated, systematic tool like SafetyLine means staff safety is more actively and systematically managed which has made a huge difference for staff and their supervisors.”

What was your main reason for selecting SafetyLine?

“We asked others in our sector which system they used and SafetyLine’s name came up time and again.  When we reviewed it ourselves, the system stood out because it was designed for organizations like ours — where employees work independently in the community. Beyond its ease of use, we like that SafetyLine allows staff to signal for help through manual triggers (such as the panic button and the ‘shake for emergency’ feature) and automatic triggers (such as the person-down sensors and missed check-in processes). This allows them to notify their manager they need help, even when they are unable to do so. In an emergency, these tools give us confidence that we can respond quickly and effectively.”

How does SafetyLine Lone Worker help you maintain compliance and reporting requirements?

“PLEA is a CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) accredited agency, which sets the standard of practice for social service agencies such as ours.  It specifically prioritizes participant and staff safety and proactive risk management.  SafetyLine supports us in maintaining this accreditation by demonstrating that we have clear, documented safety practices in place for staff working alone.”

How has SafetyLine Lone Worker improved your lone worker safety program?

“SafetyLine has made our safety program more consistent and easier to use across the organization. It’s helped reduce the manual burden on managers, streamlined how we manage check-ins, and allowed staff to focus more on their work supporting others. It’s also strengthened our emergency response procedures by providing a consistent and systematic way to monitor staff safety across our diverse programs, so managers and staff can rely on the same approach. This consistency has helped foster an organizational culture where staff safety matters and there is an agency-wide shared understanding of how to respond when we need to.”

What advice would you give to other organizations considering implementing SafetyLine Lone Worker? 

“I’d say take the time to plan your rollout carefully and include your staff in the change process. Clear communication and training make a big difference — the more workers understand why the system is in place and how it protects them, the smoother the adoption will be. At PLEA, we framed it as an investment in everyone’s safety, and that’s helped build buy-in across the organization.”

SafetyLine as a solution 

SafetyLine's ease of use, the consistency across the organization, and our safety needs are better met in a timelier way. SafetyLine can help strengthened your organization’s emergency response planning and preparation by incorporating the lone worker solution into current safety policies and procedures. 

Why SafetyLine is a strong fit for non-profit organizations

For non-profit organizations - where employees and volunteers often work independently in the community - SafetyLine offers a simple, reliable, and scalable way to protect their people. Its proactive check-in system helps ensure compliance with safety regulations while reducing administrative burden—freeing up time and resources to focus on delivering essential community services. 

Non-profits value affordability and ease of adoption, and SafetyLine delivers both through flexible deployment options, intuitive tools, and responsive, quality customer support. Whether staff are visiting clients, travelling between sites, or providing in-home services, SafetyLine ensures they stay connected and always protected. 

By choosing SafetyLine, nonprofit organizations can demonstrate their commitment to a culture of safety—giving every team member the confidence that their well-being truly matters.