Man Down Detector A MustHave For Lone Workers

Slips, trips and falls continue to be one of the highest causes of accidents for lone workers. In some cases these incidents can be fatal.

Man Down Detector can provide a safeguard to protect employees who are at risk from serious fall hazards. A lone worker man down alarm works by using both impact and non-movement detection to notify key emergency contacts.

Detection

For many roles, especially emergency services and those that work at height, Man Down detection is a key component of lone worker safety systems. Even when safety procedures are followed, falling from a high distance can cause serious injuries that require immediate attention.

A lone worker device with Man Down alerts will detect a fall or a lack of movement and trigger an alarm to send an SOS to the emergency response team. This allows the user to signal for help while they are still conscious and can be a crucial lifesaver in circumstances where the lone worker has suffered a fall, heart attack, health issue or other medical event that leaves them incapacitated.

Safepoint's lone worker devices use an advanced accelerometer that detects changes in motion and speed to identify the impact of a free-fall and determine whether it is a man down situation. Depending on the configuration of a particular device, an alarm can be sent to a user's trusted contacts or directly to Safepoint's 24/7 emergency response service. The alarm can also be triggered manually by pressing the emergency button on the device itself. This can be useful in situations where a lone worker has been subjected to violence/harassment or has an injury that makes it hard to press the button. This feature can also be disabled if the user has set their device to have no motion sensing enabled.

Alerting

Lone workers are at a greater risk than their counterparts in a team because they don’t have co-workers nearby to help them out of a dangerous situation. This leaves them unable to call for assistance if they fall, are injured or become incapacitated through an accident, natural disaster or act of violence.

This is why implementing a Man Down monitoring system into your lone worker safety solution is essential. These alert systems use sensors to detect a change in position, a lack of movement or a sudden impact and will send a Man Down alarm.

The lone worker devices will then automatically send an alarm to your emergency contacts, alerting them that you are not moving. Depending on the device, this can be activated by either a manually activated panic button or if the no motion detection feature is triggered. The alarm will also display the device’s location on Google maps.

Some lone work devices have a check in button that you can press, which will cancel the pending man down alert and allow you to reset the device. However, you should remember that if you fail to press this button within the time limit, the Man Down alert will be sent.

Blackline’s True Fall Detection technology will also accommodate soft falls and will only send the Man Down alert if the device does not move for an extended period of time (between 3 minutes and 1 hour, set by the user). In these cases, you can cancel the pending alarm by pressing the check-in button on the device prompt when it appears on the mobile app.

Notifications

When a lone worker experiences an incident that renders them unconscious or incapacitated, it's important for them to know they can get help. This is especially true when working alone in potentially dangerous situations or environments. A Man Down alarm alerts monitoring teams that the employee needs assistance and provides them with an emergency phone number to call for help.

This feature can be implemented as part of a dedicated lone worker device or integrated into an existing app that's designed to monitor a lone worker's location and movements. In many cases, this functionality is combined with other safety features that can be triggered by the device such as motion, no movement, and free fall detection.

Lone workers can set the app to check in with them at regular intervals or when a motion is detected. This can be particularly useful if the worker is experiencing a health incident that doesn't meet the threshold for a Man Down incident. The device can also be tapped or shaken to send an emergency signal to the monitoring team.

This function can be used in conjunction with Blackline's true fall detection technology to help eliminate false alarms. The sensor can detect a soft fall and will not trigger a man down alert if it doesn't meet the required criteria for a full alert. If the employee wants to cancel the pending man down alert before it's sent, they can use their smartphone to click the 'Cancel' button on the MyLoneWorkers app.

Response

Man Down Detector (MDN) is an essential feature for organisations that need to ensure the safety of their employees. A Man Down device alerts responders when a lone worker needs assistance and also provides GPS tracking of their location, so they can be dispatched immediately.





An accident at work can occur at any time and it is more dangerous if a lone worker has no one to assist them or call for help. A Man Down detector works to prevent these incidents from becoming fatal by providing a response team with an emergency alarm in the event of an accident.

In the event that a MDN event is activated, a notification is sent to the response group via radio and a loud audio beacon emits from the radio to help the responders locate the employee in an emergency situation. MDN is compatible with a range of MOTOTRBO devices including XPR 4000 and 5000 series radios with the addition of a Motorola Expansion Card.

A lone worker who is the subject of a MDN alert can disable an alarm by pressing the "Cancel" button within the pop-up window that appears on the QR-Patrol application. This will prevent an accidental activation of the MDN event, avoiding the accidental transmission of an Emergency alert. This can be done for up to 10 seconds, and it is a great feature for those who are not in need of immediate assistance but want to protect themselves against the risk of injury or unconsciousness.