Construction sites present multiple safety hazards for workers and businesses. The high-risk environment is one of the most dangerous industries with much talk of 'the big four' - fall from height, struck by an object, trapped in a space, or electrocution. Safety focused business are deploying numerous strategies to improve site safety but human error, and the frailty of humans themselves, will always pose some sort of risk. That's why construction sites need nurse call systems on site. In case something goes wrong, you want to respond as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Ease Of Triggering
In a medical emergency, you want the injured worker (or a worker who can assist them) to raise a nurse call alert as quickly as possible. You want them to easily understand HOW to raise the alert. They need to understand where the physical nurse call trigger is on the construction site. They shouldn't have to go searching for it and waste precious time.
Vanguard Wireless' solution: work with construction sites on nurse call trigger locations, offer multiple ways to trigger an alert (trigger, phone app, wearables), require each nurse call trigger to be assigned a location which appears in the smartphone app menu, offer radio frequency and cellular networking capability so nurse calls can be placed anywhere on the construction site.
Ease Of Response
What timing are you willing to accept between worker alert trigger and workplace response? Who should be alerted? How should they be alerted? How does the safety team and other management know who is responding? Does your workplace emergency plan detail what is an acceptable nurse call event process for your specific construction site? In what can be a panicked, emotionally charged situation, you want to minimise confusion and maximise response times.
Vanguard Wireless' solution: two-way notifications so workers know the alert has been sent AND received, multiple ways to receive a nurse call alert anywhere on or off the construction site (control panel, phone app, SMS, sirens, lights), clear location information so responders know where to go, ability to ACCEPT or DECLINE the alert if you're not near the emergency or cannot attend, notifications to the rest of the team when the alert has been accepted or declined by other recipients. Overall Vanguard Wireless' construction nurse call system improves emergency alert communication with clear information and proactive processes.
Ease Of Management
In an emergency, a major risk is when a worker attempts to trigger a nurse call alert and the device they try to use is dead. Is it power? Is it range? Has the placement of the nurse call system on the construction site not evolved as the site has? What happens if the worker triggers an alert but no one is notified? Or safety personnel receive the alert but can't attend and assume someone else will? These are potential problems that are solved with a smart hardware + software approach.
Vanguard Wireless' solution: the control panel, phone app, and web-based user portal give nurse call system managers FULL visibility to the status of each device and the system as a whole. If using rechargeable batteries, users can see what power level each devices is at, and recharge accordingly. If using a radio frequency networking solution, users can see the network connection strength between each device and the network. If the connection isn't good, the nurse call system can be reconfigured to suit the revised construction site layout. Devices are then easily renamed with the new locations. Users can also set themselves up to receive SMS messages if a device or the control panel disconnects. Workers on site will never be in a 'press and guess' situation during a nurse call emergency.
Saving Time
In an emergency event time is critical. If a worker is badly injured, the construction site needs to coordinate a response not just for the worker, but for the entire site. Does it require a lockdown or evacuation? How quickly can the event be escalated? What kind of information do you have on hand about the system itself? Do you have to run daily tests to ensure equipment is working? Do you have electrical contractors or other safety personnel performing a lot of manual management tasks? Could they be using this time more effectively?
Vanguard Wireless' solution: our systems offer a 'one-to-many' communication approach, where the alert (and consequent response) is shared with many workers at the same time. We also offer a choice of system communication and management platforms to nurse call system managers (which can be accessed on or off the construction site) where system information can be viewed in real time.
A Tailored System
Are you able to access integrations between your nurse call system and other construction hardware or software? Are you able to customise your system so it works best for your workers, managers, visitors, site layout, emergency plans, and evolving construction site requirements?
Vanguard Wireless' solution: in conjunction with customer feedback and requests we have introduced integrations with Procore, HammerTech, Irongate Solutions, and 3D Safety (
click here to read about our integrations or see what's new). We also offer an ability to
customise your system to suit, including up to 50 apps users with their own permission sets, geofenced alerts, location tracking, SMS notifications, and the addition of wearable nurse call triggers for high risk construction jobs like crane operators, night shift workers, security, and lone workers.
Process Improvement
Lastly, following an event the construction business' safety team is likely to want to understand how the incident happened, what steps were taken to alert the team (what, when, who), how personnel and the wider business responded, and what the final outcome was. Without this information processes can't be improved and workers cannot be trained accordingly.
Vanguard Wireless solution: every event/edit/notification is recorded in our cloud servers for auditing and reporting. With project management software integrations, information about your construction nurse call system is pushed through to your daily site diary or log. You can also log into our web-based portal to create specific PDF reports, including testing.
Vanguard Wireless specialises in advanced wireless communication solutions, delivering a tailored nurse call system that's perfect for your construction site. We also offering recommissioning services, so when you're finished using it on one site, you can take it to use on the next one. The result is a future-proofed, smart emergency alert system that saves you time and money.
Get in touch for a quote today!
