Remote Worker Safety enhances with new Geoforce Module

Oil & Gas Companies now can easily integrate remote worker safety into their command & incident centers

After several months of use by our early adopter customers, we are finally ready to talk in more detail about Geoforce’s new Remote Worker Safety module, which allows Oil &Gas workers to carry a light, low cost, personal satellite tracker which can send a distress signal from anywhere in the world.

The SPOT device and service – manufactured and sold by our worldwide satellite provider Globalstar – has found a strong foothold among consumers in the United States and elsewhere. SPOT provides a security blanket for backpackers, boaters, mountaineers, and all types of adventurers who may travel outside of cell phone range. One push of the SOS feature and a global alert center is notified, and springs into action. To date, over 2,200 rescues have been documented worldwide resulting from distress calls from the SPOT.   With the popularity of the SPOT among individuals, it’s natural that the Oil & Gas industry would take notice. Our industry has many hundreds of thousands of workers in the field every day worldwide, often working solo and/or in extremely remote locales. Risk is always present, and the ability to respond quickly is crucial. But Oil & Gas enterprise users of SPOT devices have very different requirements than an individual who is in a remote location for recreational purposes.   To start with, a consumer grade device doesn’t cut it in Oil & Gas. The industry needs an intrinsically safe SPOT device – which Geoforce and Globalstar now provide. In addition, O&G operators and service companies have sophisticated command and Incident centers which monitor operations 24 x 7. Those command centers are the logical place for Remote Worker emergency messages to arrive. Whether for pipelines, rigs, or other locations – command centers are manned around the clock by highly trained staff who understands Oil & Gas operations. They can respond quickly, and appropriately, to alerts.   That use case helped drive Geoforce in developing our Remote Worker module. Typically, we’ve tracked hard assets for the Oil & Gas industry, things like CCUs, baskets, IBC’s and Frac Tanks, along with service vehicles. The Geoforce module runs quietly in the background of a command center until an alert is sent. Then the application springs to life, calling attention to the alert and demanding immediate action from the center staff.   Early adoption of the Remote Worker module has been encouraging. We’ve seen users on pipelines in Oklahoma and the permafrost of Alaska. Interest is coming in from locales as diverse as offshore platforms in Latin America and the jungles of Papua New Guinea. And at Geoforce, we’re looking forward to the day soon when we start our own tally of rescues enabled by our Remote Worker solution.