Voice-Enabled Workflows Part Two: Create a Safety Culture with Automated Safety Procedures

Voice Workflows for Safety
Safety is a top priority for every company. Accidents and injuries not only hurt team members but also slow down an organization by increasing absenteeism and turnover, and reducing productivity.

Seek to create a safety culture within your organization with powerful new tools available today. Voice-enabled workflows allow for deep implementation of safety practices and automate procedures that previously required human intervention.

With voice-triggered alerts, automatic check-ins, and geofenced instructions, you can take care of workers who perform jobs where they face hazards or are at increased risk of harassment and abuse.

Read on to learn about three of the most effective workflows for protecting your employees and why you’ll love using them.

This article is the second in a three-part series about Voice Workflows. Did you miss Part One: “Workflows for Team Effectiveness”? Read it now.

1. Use voice alerts to improve response times during emergencies

No matter how well leaders prepare, emergencies happen. Responding quickly is critical to minimizing workplace injury or property damage. Rapid response starts with a powerful alerting system that gets actionable information out to your entire team.

Alerts Workflow warns security teams when workers speak an emergency phrase (“help help help” for example). They can trigger this alert from anywhere, on any device. On-duty security staff receive alerts on the channels they already monitor: Orion groups, two-way radio channels, and even individual smartphones or pagers. For management or Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) executives, Alerts Workflow also logs incident reports and sends email notifications. The notification includes what the emergency is, where it occurred, and who activated it.

The video below shows how Alerts Workflow works when combined with indoor positioning services for pinpoint location response.

For example, hotels use Alerts Workflow to ensure that their customer-facing workers (such as housekeepers and room attendants) have access to emergency services on the rare occasion that a guest harasses or assaults a staff member.

Everyone in an organization who needs to know — from upper management to frontline staff — is alerted in a way that helps them respond most effectively. This creates unprecedented visibility so that each emergency receives an appropriate and actionable response. Workflows enable a completely new paradigm of crisis management, one that is holistic and timely.

You’ll love Alerts Workflow because you’ll know your entire team can always call for help, no matter where they are.

2. Protect solo staff by automating voice check-ins

Solo worker patroling a building

So Alerts Workflow can hasten assistance to teams when they call for help. But what happens when your team member becomes incapacitated and can’t call for help?

Teams are more distributed than ever: staff may move between sites and work by themselves in a wide variety of situations. For some organizations, management may also be remote, with only minimal time and attention monitoring mission-critical routine work. Solo workers may be working with significant security risks, and it’s important to know you’ll be automatically alerted of a work site emergency in those critical moments where your staff can’t alert you themselves.

To address gaps in protections for solo staff, Lone Worker Reminders provide automated management and safety checks at any distance. Operating like a “dead man’s switch”, Lone Worker Reminders check-in with solo staff periodically. For example, Orion might ask the worker every ten minutes, “Are you ok?” to which the worker must reply “yes” to avoid triggering an alert to management. If the worker fails to reply after a certain amount of time or a number of attempts, Orion will contact backup team members through multiple communication channels such as spoken alerts, phone calls, and text messages.

Lone Worker Reminders also serve to remind workers of required recurring tasks such as cleaning or security rounds. Managers request confirmation of completed tasks and be alerted if no confirmation comes through.

You’ll love Lone Worker Reminders because they reduce response times, maintain vigilance, and automate routine management. You’ll know if anyone is in trouble, and you’ll have enough time to intervene effectively.

3. Issue instant instructions when workers arrive onsite

Orion Geo-fencing Workflows

Some work sites may include dangerous working environments: power stations, manufacturing floors, underground mines, or construction sites. To prevent accidents, management creates procedures that must be followed when workers enter hazardous locations. Voice workflows can increase compliance with these procedures by providing contextual feedback as workers move between worksites.

Geofencing Voice Alerts provide real-time location-triggered guidance, notifying any staff member crossing into a specific area of any associated rules for the area. Managers concerned with HSE procedures can simply specify a geographic area and add a message or checklist that auto-plays when a worker enters that area. No one will forget the risks of a specific work zone or miss the required steps to follow to avoid mishaps.

Beyond safety, Geofencing Voice Alerts can also sync with IoT sensors and smart appliances to respond to the presence of workers. Make sure that people are in the right place at the right time and receive an alert if a worker’s post has gone unfilled.

You’ll love Geofencing Voice Alerts because you’ll know your staff will have the information they need every time they enter a space. Your workers will be reminded automatically of important information without intervention from your managers and supervisors. You’ll also love that you can deeply integrate your people and your machines for truly seamless interactions.

Learn more about Orion AI Workflows, Automations, and Voice Alerts

These three workflows scale up and strengthen procedures without requiring additional staff time. Voice workflows help create a safety culture within an organization by seamlessly integrating into their day-to-day work.

Want to know how the Orion Voice Platform can help you automate your standard operating procedures, protect your workers, and make your operations even more efficient? Explore ideas with our Solutions Team by emailing hello@orionlabs.io. If you currently have an Orion subscription and would like to add workflows, contact your Customer Success Manager or send us a note here.

Next, read Part Three: Workflows That Enhance Compliance.