Loner M6 Employee Safety Monitoring by Blackline

The Loner® M6 from Blackline Safety is a employee worn safety monitoring device. It replaces the Loner SMD to help supervise the safety of lone workers in the field, inside facilities, between sites, and while driving. All safety alerts are communicated in real time to monitoring personnel. They include the employee’s identity, alert type, time, date, and location of the alert.

safety monitoringThe Loner M6 features a combination of automatic and manually triggered safety features that initiate the emergency response process. LiveResponse activates when the live monitoring team receives a safety alert. The monitoring team receives the alert within the Loner Portal safety monitoring application. A blue LiveResponse indicator activates when the safety alert has been received and the emergency response process has been initiated.

The cloud-hosted Loner Portal safety monitoring application is the centralized headquarters. It enables the online management of all fielded Loner products and associated safety alerts generated. A comprehensive safety alert management workflow empowers personnel with the situational awareness required to respond to alerts, assess the situation, escalate, and dispatch responders (e.g., nearby co-workers or local 9-1-1 services).

Blackline’s Silver service plan lets organizations self-monitor their lone workers using the Loner Portal. The Gold service plan delivers around-the-clock live safety monitoring, leveraging Blackline’s in-house Safety Operations Center or one of their Alarm Receiving Center partners. Silver Voice and Gold Voice service plans are also available, connecting monitoring teams to a lone worker in need of help via built-in speakerphone.

When subscribed for a voice plan, Loner M6 answers two-way voice calls from the monitoring team, without having to press a button. Using the industrial grade speakerphone, the team can call the worker directly through the device. If a silent emergency alert was triggered, the incoming call will be answered without being announced. Monitoring personnel can listen to an event the employee is facing in order to assess management of the situation.

GPS technology allows for precise positioning of an employee—indoors, outside, and on the road. A GPS antenna and high sensitivity receiver provide weak-signal tracking. Layers of concrete, steel, and windows with metallic film often block satellite signals. Loner M6 is compatible with Loner Beacon location technology that blankets buildings with positioning signals where GPS is unavailable or imprecise. If GPS signals are unavailable and Loner Beacons are not deployed, devices always remember their last outside position. An optional breadcrumb history can also be generated with locations being reported to monitoring infrastructure every five minutes. Further, the Loner Portal provides users with a floor plan map overlay that corresponds to the worker’s precise location.

Loner M6 is configurable. All changes, plus firmware updates occur over the air so there is no need to take devices out of service. Further, the devices are configurable using one or more device profiles within Loner Portal so no Loner M6 is misconfigured. The devices are built to withstand everyday use in a variety of environments, from utilities to healthcare. They are designed to meet the IP65 ingress protection level against dust and high-pressure water jets and to survive 6′ drops onto concrete floors.

Loner M6 safety monitoring features:

True Fall Detection™ enables devices to detect the signature movements of a fall in contrast to other activities (e.g., walking down stairs). If a worker falls and does not get up, the device will use an audible, visual, and tactile request for the employee to confirm safety status by pressing the check-in button. If there is no response within a preset time, an alert is communicated to monitoring personnel.

No-Motion Detection uses three-axis accelerometers to automatically monitor the employee’s movements. If the user does not move sufficiently within a configurable interval, the device will request confirmation of safety status via the check-in button. If there is no response within a preset time, it communicates a safety alert.

Employee Check-In is a method to regularly and automatically confirm employee well-being throughout the workday. A Loner device can be configured to request an employee check-in with a timer that suits the risk level of their environment and activity. It will use an audible, visual, and tactile request for the employee safety status by pressing the check-in button. If there is no response within a preset time, the device communicates a safety alert.

Emergency Latch allows the lone worker to manually request help with a quick release. Similar to pulling a fire alarm, the latch can be triggered quickly, even if vision is impaired. Once triggered, the Loner device will use audible and visual indicators to attract attention from others nearby.

Silent Emergency Request is a programmable feature for lone workers who interact with the public. Designed for threatening scenarios that may escalate, the employee can silently request help by pressing and holding down the emergency latch.