Foreword
From technology developments to changes in the workplace, personal safety technology has evolved considerably over recent years.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated technology adoption and shaped a new security landscape. Borne from the success of remote work, hybrid working has transformed the traditional Monday-to-Friday, nine-to-five structure, forcing businesses to adapt.
However, it’s not just new working patterns that are driving the shift to enhanced personal protection. The post-pandemic era presents a markedly more volatile climate for both living and working, characterised by rising levels of abuse existing alongside a less tolerant society.
Each year, we witness record-breaking crime statistics, with violent crime rates surging by more than a third in the last decade. In the year ending September 2023, police reported 2.1 million offences of violence against the person. But concerningly, as these incidents occur more frequently, we’re becoming numb to the effects.
Research conducted by Peoplesafe found that 21% of employees have personal safety concerns at least once a week. Extrapolated out to the UK workforce, that’s 6.8 million people in total with the average worker thinking about their safety three times a month.
Given this pressing concern, it's clear that there’s a growing need for effective solutions.
Personal safety technology is not a new offering having been on the market for more than two decades.
Over that time, the technology, use cases and implementation have become increasingly sophisticated. From the early days of panic buttons to today's sophisticated AI-driven applications, personal safety technology has continually evolved to meet emerging challenges.
Nonetheless, development cannot stand still with new working practices creating new or heightened challenges; increased risk and vulnerabilities as well as the need to manage wellbeing concerns.
We predict that personal safety technology will increasingly integrate with machine learning and AI to enhance proactive measures by identifying risk and hazard data patterns.
Technology will also increasingly focus on worker wellbeing, not just safety with developments to improve mental health.
Ultimately, embracing technology will be vital for organisations to safeguard their employees in today's volatile climate.
