Becklar Protects
Humanitarian Workers
in Ukraine
Becklar protects People in Need, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid to critical regions around the world.
Becklar Workforce Safety’s mission is to, ‘protect employees everywhere with the most advanced connected worker safety technology.’ That statement couldn’t be more foundational in our partnership with People in Need, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid to critical regions around the world.
People in Need (PIN) was looking for a solution to keep an accurate headcount of their employees working in war-stricken, dangerous areas. Although Becklar’s business partnerships have been more traditional, such as protecting Sunnova technicans, or government social workers who work alone, the Workforce Safety solution from Becklar was a perfect match for PIN. With issues accounting for their workers in hostile areas, the Becklar Workforce Safety solution provided a reliable and easy-to-use tool to help PIN keep an accurate headcount of their aid workers.
Dangerous Regions and Inaccurate Reporting
One of PIN’s areas of humanitarian work is war-stricken Ukraine. PIN has over 340 employees spread across Ukraine. The attacks on Ukraine come suddenly, and often without warning. From one moment to the next, a ‘safe’ area can immediately come under attack.
Krystyna Nyemchynova is Security and Access Manager for the People in Need Ukraine program. One of PIN’s biggest challenges with their humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine is determining where their employees are. “The situation in Ukraine is so dynamic and unpredictable. Hostilities affect pretty much the entire territory and can potentially cause danger for frontlines at any time,” said Nyemchynova.
When a specific area or territory suddenly becomes hostile, it is the security team’s responsibility to account for staff in or around the area. PIN previously did this by manually calling staff members. “We have ten offices across the country. In certain situations, we were basically doing head counts manually, calling focal points and points of contact. If they didn’t answer their phones, we wouldn’t have any information. We needed a solution that was more modern and sophisticated.”
The environment where aid workers are operating is extremely volatile, and as a result workers are not always able to respond to security managers, making it impossible to provide accurate accounting for their locations. “Sometimes our frontline workers are sheltering in areas that are under attack and can’t respond. Or communication infrastructure goes down, and the cellphone service or internet becomes very unreliable,” said Nyemchynova.
Sometimes our frontline workers are sheltering in areas that are under attack and can’t respond.
With many workers in the field, their locations spread throughout Ukraine, and the unpredictability of hostilities throughout the region, PIN began looking for a solution to accurately keep track of their employees. The Becklar Workforce Safety solution including the WorkerSafety Pro app fit PIN’s needs, and more.
Contributing to The Protection of People That Help Others
The WorkerSafety Pro app from Becklar Workforce Safety has many features that not only helps PIN and their safety and security team manage their employees in the field, but also enables those employees to proactively send for help during emergency situations.
One of the most useful features for PIN and their team is WorkerSafety Pro’s geofencing capabilities. If a particular area comes under duress, Nyemchynova can geofence the area using the WorkerSafety Pro dashboard. Any of her field workers in the area will receive an emergency check-in notification to report to Nyemchynova on their status. And they can notify other field workers to remain away from an escalating dangerous area. “It is fast, very efficient, and user-friendly. It even works under poor conditions like with poor mobile and internet connections which can be a big issue throughout Ukraine,” said Nyemchynova.
It makes them feel safer, and it helps me knowing that we can communicate with staff even during hostilities. I can know they are safe.
Equipped with the WorkerSafety Pro app on their phones, field workers can also request help with one press of the SOS button on the app. This also provides field workers with a sense of safety knowing they aren’t going into the high-risk areas alone. “It makes them feel safer, and it helps me knowing that we can communicate with staff even during hostilities. I can know they are safe,” said Nyemchynova.
Using the WorkerSafety Pro dashboard, PIN has turned a labor intensive, manual check-in process into an immediate and reliable task. “The dashboard produces a report for me. I can see who has responded to check-ins and who hasn’t. No need to manually calculate anything. It’s quick,” said Nyemchynova. And in their humanitarian efforts, time can be a critical component in maintaining the safety of their field workers.
Protecting Privacy
Becklar Workerforce Safety not only protects employees while out in the field, but also protects their privacy. When it comes to location sharing, the WorkerSafety Pro app only shares location data when the SOS is pressed, or when a safety check-in is missed. It does not inform the security team of the location of employees without an emergency prompt. “It was important for our employees to know that the app wasn’t being used to track them,” said Nyemchynova. She continued, “The app is simply for their safety, and they appreciated that.”
Becklar Workforce Safety Puts People First
Technology is only as good as the people behind the scenes. Becklar Workforce Safety is dedicated to serving its customers and answering any questions and concerns from any of its partnering businesses. “We also appreciate all the small things. If we call for technical support, Becklar is quick to answer. Even scheduling a meeting to catch up on any particular concern, it’s alway very flexible and easy to get a hold of the company,” said Nyemchynova. Whether partnering with a company across the street, or across the world, supporting every customer is Becklar’s top priority.
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Protecting Employees Everywhere
‘Protecting the lives of employees everywhere,’ is more than a catchphrase. It is a commitment for Becklar Workforce Safety. Beyond the reality of workplace incidents in the United States, PIN’s humanitarian efforts in Ukraine display the scary truth about the dangers field workers can face, and how solutions from Becklar Workforce Safety help them stay safe. At Becklar, we strive to protect employees everywhere. And we truly mean everywhere.
To learn more about how Becklar Workforce Safety can help protect your team, for a personalized demonstration.
About People in Need
People in Need is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid in critical regions around the world. PIN considers human dignity and freedom to be basic, fundamental human values. They strive to help people overcome disaster and support them with time to recover. You can donate to their cause here.