Telford council staff keep safe with new app

The council is training up 450 members of staff to use StaySafe, a mobile phone app that aims to protect lone workers.

Some council departments have already been using the scheme, but it is now being adopted across the authority.

StaySafe's account director Matthew Silvester explained how it works.

He said: "One of the functions of the app is a panic button.

"When someone presses the button it goes through an alarm receiving centre in real time, where people can respond and see exactly where in the world that person is.

"The alarm receiving centre is manned around the clock 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."

The worker using the app can also leave notes detailing their situation, so that people at the alarm centre can respond appropriately and quickly.

Also included is a check-in feature, where an alarm can be raised if the worker doesn't sound off at an agreed time.

Matthew said the app, which is also being used by Shropshire Council, would help the councils protect their workers.

"A big local authority has that responsibility to its employees and that duty of care.

"People generally always have their wallet, their keys and their phone on them, so with this being an app it is very accessible."

StaySafe began six years ago in a co-founder's kitchen, and is now contracted to businesses and local authorities in 34 countries.

Tens of thousands of workers use the app, from self-employed tree surgeons to British Gas engineers.