Rocky Mountain Equipment has been working hard over the past few years to improve the safety of its employees. In the most recent change, the Case IH dealership chain has adopted the SPOT system for employees working alone.
The system is a GPS unit that tracks the worker when they are working in remote areas. It functions on a two-hour interval, and if a button isn't pressed in that time a monitoring station contacts them to ensure they are still safe. There is also an emergency button on the device if something does happen in the field, which immediately contacts EMS. Part of the working alone program, SPOT was adapted because an agriculture equipment dealer frequently has to send people out service in fields and other places where cell phones might not work, explains Jeff Ross, Health and Safety Coordinator for Rocky Mountain Equipment.
"These guys are going out on service calls by themselves in a service truck, in the middle of a farmer's field, sometimes in the middle of the night because these guys go around the clock. We need to ensure the safety of our workers," Ross says.
SPOT was initially designed for people like back country snowmobilers and other extreme sports, Ross says, but the design of the system made it easy to adapt to business use. It was also chosen because of the limitations of cell phones, since in many cases there was limited cell service, and it didn't offer the ability to track locations. There always needs to be two-way communication, Ross says, and this ensures that there will always be someone monitoring the safety of their workers.
The adoption of SPOT is part of a larger program to improve safety at RME. They also received Certificate of Recognition, or COR certification, through the Sask-atchewan Construction Safety Association. The program is an audit system to ensure that the company meets certain safety standards for their workers. Ross says that it's important for the company to maintain high standards to ensure safety of their employees. He says another step towards safety was a more effective hazard assessment program, better training and better personal protective equipment.
Ross says that he thinks that things like SPOT being adopted by other dealers, and while he doesn't know what other dealers are doing, he says that the bar is being raised for safety all the time. He says that it just makes sense to adopt technology that improves the safety of people working for the company.
