Press releases

SKYGUARD SCORES A NOTABLE FIRST FOR LONE WORKER PROTECTION

With the award of NSI ARC Gold Approval to its Incident Management Centre (IMC) for Lone Worker monitoring, Skyguard has become the first company to offer an end-to-end service which includes all elements of BS 8484:2009, the new and demanding Code of Practice for the Provision of Lone Worker Device Services.
Dedicated solely to the monitoring of lone worker devices, the Skyguard IMC in Epsom is the first single-purpose facility in the UK to achieve NSI ARC Gold Approval for BS 8484:2009 which includes BS 5979:2007 Category 2. The searching approval process leading to the Gold Award included a detailed evaluation not only of the IMC’s operating and management procedures, but also for its quality management systems to ensure conformance with BS EN ISO 9001:2008.
The NSI certification for the IMC is complemented by the compliance of both of the personal safety devices offered by Skyguard, the GEMshield and the Skyguard 500 which both meet the requirements of BS 8484:2009 in all aspects of their construction, performance and operation.
“There are other companies that offer BS8484 certified personal safety devices for Lone Workers,” said Will Murray, Marketing Director of Skyguard Ltd, “but we are very proud to be the first to offer a complete end-to-end BS8484 package. This is because we believe that what happens after a user ‘presses the red button’ is of critical importance, not just the device itself.”
“That’s why our IMC has only one function. Our operators are specially and specifically trained in responding to calls from individuals at risk, and are never distracted by having to carry out other work like, for example, monitoring building alarms or CCTV images. The IMC also uses our own purpose-written software that has been designed from the ground up to help us respond rapidly, efficiently and effectively.”
“For these reasons, we firmly believe that our Lone Worker service is second to none, and we’re delighted to have NSI ARC Gold approval as a valuable endorsement of our methods and practices from the UK’s leading approvals and certification body. This demonstrates Skyguard works to the highest industry standards as demanded by the Police and emergency services.”
Skyguard received its NSI ARC approval on 27th January 2010, after successfully meeting the requirements of a wide-ranging evaluation of its services and procedures carried out by NSI inspectors. The Skyguard products, as with all devices for which BS 8484 compliance is claimed, are self-certified, since no third-party certification procedure for equipment is currently available in respect of the BS 8484 standard.
=== END ===
Note to Editors:
In 2003 Skyguard began a 3 year market research and technology design programme, sourcing the right devices and developing the best possible software for its requirements. Following a £3m investment in 2006, the service infrastructure was developed. Extensive field trials with the police and other organisations followed and, in 2008 a new management team and investors were engaged, taking the company to the next level. A further £2 million was invested in 2009 to create new devices, software, and the construction of a dedicated state-of-the-art Incident Management Centre in Surrey.
Drawing from its vast experience in dealing with life threatening incidents on a daily basis, combined with cutting edge infrastructure and training methods, Skyguard’s personal safety service is considered to be unrivalled.
For further information please contact: Will Murray, Marketing Director, Skyguard Ltd, Skyguard House, 457 Kingston Road, Epsom, Surrey. KT19 0DB. Tel: 0208 786 3305; E: will.murray@skyguardgroup.com

For press information please contact: Linda Tyrrell, PR Account Director, The Henley Group International, Graffix House, Newtown Road, Henley on Thames, Oxon. RG9 1HG. Tel: 01491 570972; E: linda@henley.co.uk