Scottish Water Safeguards Lone Workers with 250+ SPOT Gen3 Satellite Devices

Globalstar Europe Satellite Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Globalstar and provider in satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies, announced that Scottish Water has deployed over 250 SPOT Gen3 satellite messengers to safeguard employees who work on their own in areas with unreliable or non-existent mobile coverage.

Hundreds of Scottish Water employees work in remote parts of the country, often solo, managing assets including the reservoirs that supply water to over 2.54 million households and 152,000 businesses. While 49 remote-working teams are already using SPOT, Scottish Water is also offering devices to all other employees who are registered as lone workers. These employees now have a communications lifeline wherever they are, with small, robust SPOT Gen3 devices that communicate reliably over Globalstar’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network.

Scottish Water has pre-configured the SPOT Gen3 devices with two services: if an employee has an emergency, they can press SPOT’s one-touch SOS button; there is also a help button for non-life-threatening situations, such as a flat tyre. Pressing either button automatically transmits the user’s precise GPS location to Scottish Water’s internal communications centre (ICC). The ICC either contacts the emergency services or locates a nearby Scottish Water team who can help their colleague.

Scottish Water chose SPOT Gen3 because of its ease of use, its robustness and the accuracy of its GPS transmissions. Before deploying SPOT earlier in 2019, Scottish Water relied solely on a system where employees registered their planned movements by phone then, if they did not call back by an agreed time, the issue would be escalated through their line managers.

“With winter around the corner we expect SPOT to come into its own as an important part of our health and safety strategy,” said Kes Juskowiak, Water Operations General Manager at Scottish Water. “With reliable satellite communications, we can get help to our employees whenever it is needed and wherever they might be. SPOT is a lifeline providing reassurance to families and colleagues that each lone worker is in safe hands.”

Scottish Water procured the SPOTs through UK specialist wireless and satellite reseller, Global Telesat Communications (GTC), a subsidiary of Orbital Tracking Corp. (OTCQB: TRKK). GTC recently surpassed the milestone of selling 15,000 SPOT devices.

“With staff welfare moving up the corporate agenda, we are seeing significant adoption of SPOT by commercial and non-commercial organisations worldwide,” said Gary King, Globalstar EMEA Sales Manager for SPOT. “By deploying SPOT, Scottish Water is demonstrating its commitment to safeguarding its employees as they go about their work in some of the most remote parts of the UK.”