Spat at and pushed down stairs – Openreach rolls out new safety app to help protect employees

People safe app pic

Openreach – which runs the UK’s most popular broadband network[1] - is launching a new personal safety app for all of its 27,000 employees, following a surge in abuse and assaults which have become the leading cause of injury among its workforce.

Created by Peoplesafe, the app will help protect Openreach’s engineers and office-based staff in the event of safety incidents when they’re working alone, at height or just on their commute to and from home.

Recent incidents involving Openreach engineers have included being spat at, pushed down stairs, threatened with dogs and knives, punched and kicked and even barricaded into homes and vans.

Since April last year there’s been around 700 incidents of either physical or verbal assaults and threats, including incidents where our people have needed time away from work to recover.  We’ve also seen an ongoing increase in racially motivated incidents.

 Adam Elsworth, Safety Director at Openreach, said: “Nothing’s more important than the safety of our people and making sure everyone gets home each day safe and well. That’s why we’re constantly looking at ways to protect our people as they go about their work, whether that’s through training, PPE, specialist kit like climbing harnesses or new technologies.

“The Peoplesafe app gives our people an added layer of safety while on the job and particularly for many of our colleagues that work alone for long periods of the day. It also helps us to address an area we have less control: attacks by members of the public.”

Openreach engineer Adrian recently had to use the Peoplesafe app in an emergency while at work. He said: “This app is so important as sadly we often face abuse or challenging situations while simply trying to do our jobs.

“Recently I was working in the street to reconnect a vulnerable customer which involved a road closure, when a local resident furious at having to wait a short time started throwing traffic cones around and swearing. He got into his car, drove along the pavement and then directly at me.

“I was genuinely frightened for my safety, so I pressed the SOS button on the Peoplesafe app and thankfully the police arrived within minutes and diffused the situation so I was able to continue work.

“It’s really reassuring to know that I can get help with just the press of a button.”

The app, which has already been through a successful trial in the company’s Service Delivery unit, offers features such as:

·       SOS and fall alarms connecting directly to a 24/7 control centre

·       GPS tracking for emergency responders to pinpoint locations

·       Instant two-way audio and direct police dispatch

·       Commute monitoring and critical event alerts

Naz Dossa, CEO at Peoplesafe, said: "Protecting Openreach’s engineers has never been more critical as public aggression towards frontline workers continues to rise across all sectors. Partnering with Openreach reflects our shared commitment to setting new standards in employee safety and demonstrates how safety can be operationalised at scale - embedding protection into everyday operations while giving leaders clear, efficient oversight of risk across a vast workforce. Together, we’ve created an integrated solution built around our technology platform that connects seamlessly to Openreach’s systems and enables them to protect their people at scale.

This isn’t just about technology - it’s about giving Openreach employees the confidence that they are never alone, even in the most challenging situations and at a time when safety incidents are rising. I’d like to personally applaud the Openreach safety teams on leading the way in how they protect their people, underlining their culture of care across the organisation."

James Shew, Channel Partnerships Manager at Peoplesafe, added: “Openreach has taken a significant step in elevating safety across the organisation. Over the past two years our partnership has focused on delivering an integrated solution that is available to every employee. Throughout the proof‑of‑concept phase, Openreach showed real commitment by shaping the service to fit both the organisation’s culture and the realities of day‑to‑day operations. The tailored features within the Peoplesafe app have enabled us to meet the safety team’s vision and, most importantly, help ensure every colleague gets home safe and well.”

The app will be installed on all devices carried by Openreach engineers as well as being offered as an optional safety precaution for its office-based staff.

Recent research by Peoplesafe - Overcoming the Employee Safety Gap - found that 60 per cent of people feel unsafe when commuting on public transport during unsociable hours, while 50 per cent worry about travelling to or from work alone. Meanwhile further research showed 45 per cent of employees feel safer when equipped with a lone worker device or app.

Adam added: “The app’s an additional layer of safety. We hope no one ever needs to activate an alarm but it’s important we give people that option to call for help fast.

“Fall alarms are activated by sensors in the person’s mobile phone, while the SOS alarms can be set off with a simple press of the handset. Emergency services can be on their way within minutes which is just incredible.

“While Peoplesafe will only be mandatory for our field teams (due to the nature of their work) we hope all of our people will use the app to have peace of mind and support if and when they need it.”

[1] Substantiation here: openreach.com/about/claims