Serco Makes Significant Strides In Managing Assylum Seekers, Thanks To SoloProtect Identicom Device
Dailycsr.com – 14 September 2017 – Serco is a service and outsourcing company that has been delivering essential public services for more than 5 decades and has made a difference to the lives of millions of people across the world.
In 2012, having signed a contract agreement with the UK Border Agency (UKBA), Serco was able to deliver the COMPASS project which provides accommodation, along with associated services and transportation to asylum seekers in two regions in UK.
Thanks to Serco’s initiative in the Commercial and Operational Managers Procuring of Asylum Support Services (COMPASS), it has been able to execute more than 20 UKBA contracts for accommodation and transportation of asylum applicants and their families and at the same time it has been able to improve the service standards while keeping incremental costs at bay.
As a result, Serco is the prime contractor for the UK’s North West region, as well as for Scotland & Ireland.
Its responsibilities include, arranging for initial short-term accommodation for asylum seekers; dispersed accommodation once their application has been processed; providing transportation to assylum seekers between accommodation, as well as all related processes that support these operations.
With a team of more than 220 workers attached to the COMPASS, Serco undertook the responsibility of taking care of their employees, including IT Managers, business support staff as well as other management colleagues responsible for the safety of lone workers.
Serco even had a separate team which looked after staff welfare.
Having used the SoloProtect reports, Serco realised that its management had scope for improvements and that its full potential remained untapped.
In order to streamline and provide a better return of investments on this project, Serco was able to drum up support for greater awareness and thus minimise the risks of danger to its employees, who had to work with a vulnerable population, come day or night.
As a result of this awareness, which includes training staff and equipping them with better communication skills, its training were more optimally utilised.
While designing Serco’s Identicom, the look and feel of it was exactly like a standard identity card, which ensured it discreet usage.
The Identicom is designed to fit a range of personnel and has wide applicability for lone workers on the field; be it from 'People Risk', arising out of physical or verbal abuse and attack, or 'Environmental Risk', in which a person becomes incapacitated due to a sudden illness, a trip or a fall. This incapacitation is commonly referred to as a 'Man Down'.
Serco was able to provide unprecidented protection to its workers thanks to the Identicom coupled with the BS 8484:2016 accreditation, the SoloProtect’s elite, and EN50518 compliant, in-house Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC).
"The safety of our staff, service users and the public is paramount in what we do. The SoloProtect device not only provides a visible deterrent but also gives staff the re-assurance that, if there were an incident, they would get the help that was needed. Our aim is to ensure our staff get home safe, the SoloProtect device helps us do that."
For Serco’s support staff, the SoloProtect device is important since it provides them confidence that they are in safe hands, especially when they are working alone.
According to Chris Mairs, Serco’s Housing Officer, the SoloProtect device is ‘simple and effective’ and more importantly, he feels safer knowing the device is close at hand.
"Although I am confident in working with my Service Users I also understand the need for protection around the unknown or hostile situations, so having the device gives me peace of mind should I ever need to use it."
The SoloProtect Identicom device has enabled Serco’s management to provide excellent support service to the safety to its workers as well as its lone worker teams.
Empowered by the device, they can carry out their work with peace of mind in a safe and secure environment.
Due credit and praise also goes to Identicom users who were able to embrace and integrate themselves into a new working environment.
Significantly, the SoloProtect lone worker solution is fully compliant with BS8484 and EN50518.
The device allows its user to protect themselves effectively easily in a variety of work environments.
More than 200,000 people have chosen Identicom to be their preferred lone worker device.
References:
www.healthandsafetyatwork.com
In 2012, having signed a contract agreement with the UK Border Agency (UKBA), Serco was able to deliver the COMPASS project which provides accommodation, along with associated services and transportation to asylum seekers in two regions in UK.
Thanks to Serco’s initiative in the Commercial and Operational Managers Procuring of Asylum Support Services (COMPASS), it has been able to execute more than 20 UKBA contracts for accommodation and transportation of asylum applicants and their families and at the same time it has been able to improve the service standards while keeping incremental costs at bay.
As a result, Serco is the prime contractor for the UK’s North West region, as well as for Scotland & Ireland.
Its responsibilities include, arranging for initial short-term accommodation for asylum seekers; dispersed accommodation once their application has been processed; providing transportation to assylum seekers between accommodation, as well as all related processes that support these operations.
With a team of more than 220 workers attached to the COMPASS, Serco undertook the responsibility of taking care of their employees, including IT Managers, business support staff as well as other management colleagues responsible for the safety of lone workers.
Serco even had a separate team which looked after staff welfare.
Having used the SoloProtect reports, Serco realised that its management had scope for improvements and that its full potential remained untapped.
In order to streamline and provide a better return of investments on this project, Serco was able to drum up support for greater awareness and thus minimise the risks of danger to its employees, who had to work with a vulnerable population, come day or night.
As a result of this awareness, which includes training staff and equipping them with better communication skills, its training were more optimally utilised.
While designing Serco’s Identicom, the look and feel of it was exactly like a standard identity card, which ensured it discreet usage.
The Identicom is designed to fit a range of personnel and has wide applicability for lone workers on the field; be it from 'People Risk', arising out of physical or verbal abuse and attack, or 'Environmental Risk', in which a person becomes incapacitated due to a sudden illness, a trip or a fall. This incapacitation is commonly referred to as a 'Man Down'.
Serco was able to provide unprecidented protection to its workers thanks to the Identicom coupled with the BS 8484:2016 accreditation, the SoloProtect’s elite, and EN50518 compliant, in-house Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC).
"The safety of our staff, service users and the public is paramount in what we do. The SoloProtect device not only provides a visible deterrent but also gives staff the re-assurance that, if there were an incident, they would get the help that was needed. Our aim is to ensure our staff get home safe, the SoloProtect device helps us do that."
For Serco’s support staff, the SoloProtect device is important since it provides them confidence that they are in safe hands, especially when they are working alone.
According to Chris Mairs, Serco’s Housing Officer, the SoloProtect device is ‘simple and effective’ and more importantly, he feels safer knowing the device is close at hand.
"Although I am confident in working with my Service Users I also understand the need for protection around the unknown or hostile situations, so having the device gives me peace of mind should I ever need to use it."
The SoloProtect Identicom device has enabled Serco’s management to provide excellent support service to the safety to its workers as well as its lone worker teams.
Empowered by the device, they can carry out their work with peace of mind in a safe and secure environment.
Due credit and praise also goes to Identicom users who were able to embrace and integrate themselves into a new working environment.
Significantly, the SoloProtect lone worker solution is fully compliant with BS8484 and EN50518.
The device allows its user to protect themselves effectively easily in a variety of work environments.
More than 200,000 people have chosen Identicom to be their preferred lone worker device.
References:
www.healthandsafetyatwork.com
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