As separate companies, JESI and Fleet Complete have both built a reputation for providing the mining industry with leading safety monitoring software. Safe to Work discusses their plans now that they are joining forces.
JESI’s focus as a software company is providing solutions to the challenges presented by remote worker management. The company helps to reduce accidents, injuries and delays for workers on the road who travel between locations as part of their role, such as in the mining industry.
Fleet Complete, on the other hand, specialises in tracking vehicles and fleet performance management, including the location of vehicles in real-time.
The two companies have announced a partnership, logically combining their areas of expertise to provide the industry with a global platform that will allow management to monitor specific journeys.
Using this technology, mining companies will be aware of their workers’ whereabouts, including whether or not they have reached their destination safely and in efficient time.
This can be taken further to actually identify which employees are operating what vehicle at any given time.
JESI chief executive officer Joe Hoolahan says working with Fleet Complete allows the company to create remote worker management software solutions that not only monitor where employees are in the present, but also where they plan to go in the future and the most efficient and safe ways to complete their journey.
“We already cover so many aspects of a mobile workforce, so we know working together with Fleet Complete will provide a powerful, centralised approach to managing and monitoring workforces through one dashboard,” Hoolahan tells Safe to Work.
“Fleet Complete is a global leader in the telematics sector and working with them significantly enhances a value proposition in providing the best solution for both our customers.”
While roles within the mining industry are known for having varying levels of risk, Hoolahan says driving is still the biggest risk, whether it be travelling to and from shifts, on remote sites or between sites on the job.
“Driving is still the biggest risk in the sector and fatigue goes hand in hand with that,” Hoolahan says. “The industry is certainly seeing a lot of pressure to continue reviewing and mitigating risks in how workers behave – working to educate them on how they can be better drivers.
“It’s a really important link to evaluate how much travel someone has or is about to undertake. Completing a digital risk assessment prior to departure can quickly identify fatigue concerns or other associated risks that would impact on the worker safely arriving at their destination.”
JESI and Fleet Complete are supporting companies to assess the risks of travel and prioritise which trips are essential or if there is a safer and more productive way to conduct a meeting.
“From JESI’s point of view, the pre-planning of travel assists with fatigue and other environmental factors, as well as preparing workers with the right equipment and education for safer travel,” Hoolahan explains.
“This technology can help in making higher level business decisions regarding travel, whether it be increasing the number of buses, car-pooling or better planning of rosters and understanding of travel’s impact on certain roads.”
This is not only useful in planning everyday travel, but also in disaster management and the current circumstances with COVID-19 contact tracing capability.
Hoolahan says that by using JESI and Fleet Complete’s tracking software, teams can not only be immediately aware of any road or weather incidents, they can also give workers clarity on how to respond to the situation.
“Currently, if there is an emergency event, locating people can be a challenge if they are all operating in a variety of diverse locations,” he explains.
“Using this technology, we can quickly communicate to workers and monitor their whereabouts, which really enhances the business resilience benefits of remote worker management software.”
Fleet Complete looks forward to building its focus to include people and their set journeys more, after its success in tracking vehicles and fleets.
Fleet Complete Australia national sales director Michael Seychell says the company plans to strengthen its lone worker duty of care with JESI’s software solution, and in addition provide a platform for their newly-founded partner to access a global market.
“Through the integration of both platforms, we are looking to further develop our own and JESI’s technology as a seamless solution that creates greater efficiencies for our customers,” Seychell tells Safe to Work.
“By being able to manage and monitor workers as they arrive to sites and projects, we can determine the most efficient and safe routes.
“By managing this, companies can control excessive costs in fuel and unnecessary wear and tear on vehicles, as well as the safety aspect including driver fatigue from driving long hours.”
The remote worker management software is customisable to each workplace, with different organisations able to update the settings based on each individual company’s policies and guidelines.
With both JESI and Fleet Complete excited by the partnership, they are not wasting time in combining their existing areas of expertise, aiming to have the proof of concept integration available mid-July 2020.
While the technology is currently only focussed on light vehicles, rather than heavy mining machinery such as haul trucks, JESI and Fleet Complete have not ruled out this as a potential future avenue for the companies to explore.
For now, the companies are excited to embark on the new partnership and continue providing their clients with reliable remote worker management software solutions.
“There are limited opportunities and options in the market for integrated solutions such as this. We are excited to deliver a best-in-class system for mining industry participants that will combine both platforms,” Seychell concludes.
This article also appears in the July issue of Safe to Work.