Video badge to protect lone workers

Tuesday 15th June 2010

Scottish Communications has developed an innovative video badge that provides a simple and safe means of protecting lone workers such as teachers, nurses and security staff.

The ‘My Witness’ system is an easy-towear lightweight badge that can record up to 10 hours of video in HD resolution through its integral camera. It provides people such as health and social workers with an independent witness system in a format that is familiar and non-threatening to the public. Most of the time the essential duties of such personnel goes without incident but if there is an undesirable situation, then the worker has an independent and verifiable record of the event. This not only provides reassurance of the importance of their own health and safety, but also offers vital legal evidence should it be required. The unit only weighs 130g and the robust, waterproof aluminium body is designed for daily use, with the recorded images easy to download. A purpose built recorder allows secure storage of the video with RSA encryption. The system fully complies with data protection and privacy laws on storage of video data. The system is a direct follow-on from the successful ‘My Witness’ head mounted cameras that are in use by police forces and traffic wardens.Perth & Kinross Parking Council Services has found the equipment to be of great use for the investigation of complaints from members of the public regarding employee behaviour or service delivery. Instances of verbal abuse against the parking attendants, which were quite prevalent, have reduced dramatically since the system was introduced. Paul Gibson, Managing Director of Scottish Communications, said: “This new video badge has a variety of useful applications in a large range of employment sectors and we believe will play an important role in deterring crime and ensuring the safety of personnel.”