Increasing safety for lone workers
Rebecca studied Business Enterprise & Marketing (BA Hons) at the University of Strathclyde and graduated in 2015 – the same year she won the undergraduate Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Award for her personal safety alarm company, Pick Protection.
Around eight million people in the UK currently work either in isolation or without direct supervision, and statistics suggest a lone worker is attacked either physically or verbally every nine minutes. Pick Protection developed an easy to use and cost-effective solution to protect people who work independently, especially at night or in remote locations. The Personal Guardian App features a silent SOS alarm to signify assistance is needed, a pre-alert that flags a heightened sense of risk on the job, and a time-at-risk feature for periods of high-risk activity or hazardous tasks. Other options include a Bluetooth device with a 12-month battery life and a rechargeable Aegis Standalone Device. All of these products have access to a customer portal which enables user-management, reporting, and real-time viewing of lone worker activity. Service can be monitored by Unipart Security’s Alarm Receiving Centre – where highly trained operators can assess the situation and notify police with an exact location if required – or self-managed with connections to predetermined emergency contacts.
The University of Strathclyde supported Rebecca by offering her office space, dedicated mentoring, and networking opportunities with other student and graduate entrepreneurs. She was named as one of the most influential women in tech in Scotland by the Scotsman and featured in the YWCA 30 under 30 list.
With nearly one million pounds secured in funding, Pick Protection has grown to a team of nine with 60 years’ collective experience in the security industry – furthering Rebecca’s aim to mitigate risk, provide employee peace of mind, and ensure employers can easily and cost-effectively fulfil their duty of care.
