New 999 System to become Mandatory for all Businesses
A new 999 product launched by a Scottish company has hit the market as legal experts warn businesses to either implement systems that detail locations of a 999 call exactly or face legal action.
The new Enhanced 999, a calling solution, is just in time to meet the need for a 999-caller detection system that can pinpoint the location of the caller. The present set-up gives only the area and often just a generic number to paramedics, which makes detection of the caller’s location difficult. This causes delay in providing necessary assistance, and can often have serious implications.
Employers need to keep themselves up to date with health and safety developments to avoid potential legal action from employers by taking a health and safety course such as the iosh course from Workplace Law Training.
The new system however, stores the details of the caller even in a large office complex and redirects the call with a reference number and the exact location of the caller. Paramedics are now automatically furnished with precise information regarding their destination.
American companies now use such systems extensively. These ensure that their employees have quick access to emergency services, and keep lawsuits at bay. In certain states, this has even become a legal requirement. Failure to provide accurate information regarding the location of staff during a medical emergency can, in a few states, result in the shutdown of the firm.
A specialist health and safety lawyer, Claire Anderson, believes that it is the employers’ responsibility to see that their staff receives assistance in emergency cases. The new product, she told The Scotsman, will be legally obligatory for the companies to install to ensure their employees’ safety. If the Health and Safety Executive finds that firms are not adhering to this criterion, it may view it as failure to provide their staff with the minimum legally required level of protection.
