Q&A With a SafetyLine Customer: Windsor Salt 

About Windsor Salt

To help satiate this significant appetite and need for the mineral, Windsor Salt has mined, processed, and distributed salt to Canadian communities for 130 years – Canada's largest salt manufacturer. In addition to human consumption, they provide salt for agriculture, pulp and paper, water softening, and highway deicing during the cold winter. As the country's largest salt company, it employs nearly 1,000 people, many of whom work in the salt mines and their manufacturing facilities, where they may need to work alone at some point.

Before we start our interview, let's recap what a lone worker is: A lone worker is typically defined as a staff member who performs their job in isolation, apart from other workers, without direct supervision and in circumstances where assistance is not readily available. This even includes employees who work in pairs or groups as they’re at risk of an accident that could prevent one or all party members from getting help.  

Windsor Salt employees would work alone in the extensive facilities when there were staff shortages, which inevitably happens in any industry. When working in an environment where emergency help isn't easily accessible, the company used a manual safety check-in system in which lone workers would confirm their safety with paper forms and spreadsheets, relying on a third-party call center to monitor lone team members. However, there were challenges with the manual system, including missed check-ins and consistency and adoption or usage issues. 

We spoke to EHS Supervisor Robert Engel about how SafetyLine helps protect Windsor Salt employees working alone in Saskatchewan, Canada facility, how it fits in with existing safety policies and procedures, and how his team members feel about using SafetyLine during their shift. 

“Workers appreciate the automated system and the notification to the check in,” explains Robert Engel, EHS Supervisor at Windsor Salt in Saskatchewan. “It’s also good peace of mind knowing that there is a non-biased system on the other end that will kick-start an emergency action plan into place if need.” 

How did you first hear about SafetyLine?

"SafetyLine was referred to us by a sister facility using the lone worker app for their vulnerable and isolated team members.”

Why were you looking for a lone worker safety solution?

"We were looking for something that afforded us to automate the system, which we were trying to improve," he recalls. "The system we had before [SafetyLine] was somebody else on the other end of a phone call. The employees like it much more than the old system, with which we had some spotty consistency."

"I came from a place that had a pretty good working alone policy and wanted to do the same here," he continues. "Having SafetyLine tell you when your next check-in was a night-and-day difference in how easier to use compared to the old system."

But with current systems and workflows, Engel says, "SafetyLine was simple to implement and start running to protect his employees."  

This also includes how the SafetyLine app can be employed on your existing devices, such as smartphones, eliminating the expensive requirements to purchase separate lone worker-specific devices. 

How does SafetyLine integrate with your existing safety policies and procedures? 

"The [SafetyLine] program integrates seamlessly into our current safety policies and procedures since it is a complimentary step for our staff working alone," Engel says. "Staff are already familiar with mobile devices; this was the next logical step."

Peace of mind  

The benefits of using SafetyLine with the Windsor Salt team were several: ease of use and integration, a more dependable and safer, cost-effective automated check-in system, and less stress for the people working alone and their managers or OHS monitors like Engel. 

"Workers appreciate the automated system and the notification to the check-in," he explains. "It's also good peace of mind knowing that there is a non-biased system on the other end that will kick-start an emergency action plan into place if needed."

Safety in simplicity

Engel says that SafetyLine has helped them improve their lone worker safety program, providing a tool that is easy to use and very effective at monitoring and managing the wellness of these vulnerable people. SafetyLine is constantly looking at ways to streamline its steps so that the system can be onboarded quickly and lone worker protection can begin immediately. 

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

"It's taken the guesswork out of whether there will be an actual person on the other end," he says. "It's a well-thought-out format and simple interface makes it easy to use and train workers on."

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

"It's taken the guesswork out of whether there will be an actual person on the other end," he says. "It's a well-thought-out format and simple interface makes it easy to use and train workers on."

Protecting people in all industries

SafetyLine can be used to locate people anywhere, and its selection of compelling safety features can also protect people in any industry. People working in facilities like Windsor Salt benefit from the lone worker app, and lone workers in other industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, utilities, and more.  

SafetyLine's more than 20 years of experience have helped it develop a suite of features that address and mitigate OHS hazards that hurt people in all jobs, such as slips, trips, falls, workplace violence, and other dangers of working alone.