Bosch GuardMe protects lone workers and enables quick help in emergencies

Frankfurt am Main – Accidents, medical emergencies, or criminal assaults affecting lone workers can go unnoticed, leading to serious consequences. There are approximately 875,000 accidents at work in Germany every year. Numbering an estimated at 8.5 million people, every fifth worker in Germany works alone. This means they spend some or all of their time working out of sight and out of earshot of others. For this reason, a personal emergency signal device solution is required for activities that entail increased risk and that are carried out alone. This is a device that automatically requests help in an emergency. This includes, for example, working with the risk of falling, work involving the use of an open flame or with a risk of fire or explosion, felling trees or professions that pose a risk of criminal attack. Bosch is now launching GuardMe, an app solution which, when used in conjunction with a special smartphone and the connection to certified monitoring centers, fulfills all the functions of a personal emergency signal device.

"A human life is the most precious thing and needs to be protected. That's why we are so delighted to bring a solution to the market that can help save the lives of people, who are at particular risk at work," explains Henning von Boxberg, Chairman of Bosch Service Solutions. "As a product Bosch GuardMe combines the technological standards of the Internet of Things with our more than 30 years of experience in the alarm and security area.”

Bosch GuardMe combines the advantages of smartphone and lone worker protection

The GuardMe solution works in combination with special Android smartphones, such as the Sonim XP8. To ensure that the solution can be used reliably even under difficult conditions, Bosch relies on particularly robust smartphones that are particularly resistant to impact, moisture and extreme temperatures. The solution enables both manual alerts and automatic alarm detection. This means the lone worker can request help using an SOS button on the smartphone if an emergency arises. If the worker is no longer able to make an emergency call, for example due to serious injury, sensors on the smartphone recognize that an emergency has occurred by detecting an inclined position or motionlessness. The app then triggers an acoustic pre-alarm – if there is no response, the app establishes a voice connection to a Bosch Monitoring Center. In addition to the personal emergency signal device function, the device can be used as an everyday professional mobile phone for communication and order processing.

Quick rescue according to an individual plan

If a GuardMe voice connection is received at the Bosch Monitoring Center, a trained member of the service team will gather further information about the nature of the accident and injuries and then request the appropriate assistance. "The data available on the smartphone helps ensure faster rescue, for example because the position of the worker is also supplied," explains Matthias Trautner, Head of Monitoring Services at Bosch Service Solutions. What makes the Bosch solution special is that it is possible to determine individually for each device whether, in addition to the rescue workers, internal company personnel are also to be notified, such as company first aiders, the plant fire service or a supervisor. If the lone worker cannot be contacted through a voice connection, assistance will be dispatched straight away according to a pre-defined rescue plan.

Certified product

Many years of experience at Bosch Service Solutions in processing emergency calls have gone into the development of Bosch GuardMe. The Bosch unit has operated security control centers, i.e. professional receiving center for processing emergency calls and alarms, for over 30 years. Other services include eCall for connected vehicles, logistics monitoring or the elevator emergency service. Together with the Android special smartphone, Bosch GuardMe meets all the requirements for a personal emergency signal device according to the regulations of the Association of German Electrical Engineering (VDE). The solution has been certified by German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) in accordance with standard DIN VDE V 0825-11.