Macmillan Cancer Support Safeguards Volunteers with Mobile App

AndroidG24InLineHelmetMacmillan Cancer Support has unveiled a personal safety mobile app aimed at safeguarding its staff and volunteers who work alone.

Volunteers for the charity often have to spend periods as lone workers, including a considerable amount of time working in the homes of people affected by cancer. In order to ensure their safety, Macmillan needed a central, consistent way to protect volunteers, no matter when or where they were working.

“Our aim is to grow our volunteer base from around 70 volunteers supporting people in their own homes to 2000 by 2016,” said Chris Badman from Macmillan. “Buddy schemes arent as reliable as wed like and we needed something more robust in place to cover our Duty of Care as an organisation and to allow our paid staff to do their main job without worry about the well-being of volunteers in the community.”

The solution came in the form of Guardian24s lone worker solution, which enables staff and volunteers to log into the system prior to each home or location visit, giving details of the address, who they are going to meet and the expected duration. If the activity overruns, the app automatically calls the worker to verify their safety and if they cannot be reached, Guardian24s Alarm Receiving Centre is notified.

The app also includes a dedicated panic button, which works even when users have not logged a lone worker activity. By using Guardian24s Alarm Receiving Centre, the charity saves money, and enables paid staff to make the most of their time, knowing that both they and unpaid volunteers are safe.