Top of mind and recently featured in the news, from Fast Company to NBC, the topic of worker safety has become an increasingly major concern for gig economy companies that offer ride services, deliver food, or otherwise. Further illustrating this is a recent Pew Research Study citing that a significant percentage of gig workers feel unsafe while they are on the job.
Source: Pew Research
In light of this troublesome data, companies in the gig economy must commit to improving the peace of mind and safety of their freelance workers in order to attract and retain talent. To do so, many of today’s leading gig companies like Uber and Instacart are turning to innovative safety features that can be accessed directly from their workers’ mobile devices.
Through these digital safety features, ranging from vehicle crash detection to in-app emergency assistance buttons, gig companies are empowered to improve the safety of their contractors, attract more workers to earn with them, and position their brands as leaders in workforce safety.
Here are some of the ways that innovative brands in the gig economy are keeping their workers safe:
Safety Features Give Workers Peace of Mind in Uncertain Situations
Gig workers can often feel unsafe and anxious when they find themselves in an unfamiliar area. To help alleviate stress in these sorts of tense situations, gig companies can enable their workers to connect with a live safety agent, directly from their mobile apps.
After being connected to a safety agent, gig workers can stay in touch until they feel safe or request that the agent contact 911 on their behalf.
Additionally, if a worker is unable to respond to a safety agent in the event of an actual emergency, the safety agent will instantly contact 911 and send first responders to the workers’ location.
By connecting lone gig workers with a live safety agent, whether through voice, SMS, or in-app push notifications, companies can provide their gig workers with peace of mind during those situations when they’re feeling unsafe but doesn’t quite yet warrant contacting 911.
Crash Detection Features Keep a Lookout for Gig Workers Out On the Road
Gig companies can also prioritize the safety of their workers by implementing crash detection features that automatically connect workers with safety agents in the event of a car accident.
After being connected with a life safety agent, the worker can request emergency support or have the accident disregarded. If the gig worker chooses to escalate the issue to emergency services, the live safety agent will immediately contact 911 and direct them to the scene of the accident.
By implementing crash detection services that connect gig workers with live agents, brands can drastically decrease the amount of time it takes for first responders to arrive at the scene of accidents involving their workers and promote a greater sense of comfort and safety for their drivers working alone on the road.
Rich Data Enhances Emergency Response for Gig Workers
While safety agent support is a powerful tactic for companies to validate and escalate emergencies across their workforce, it’s even more important for companies in the gig economy to leverage every piece of data and information at their disposal to keep their workers safe in the event of an emergency.
To do so, when their safety agents escalate issues to 911, it’s vital for brands to not just alert emergency services but to connect them with rich data. Workers’ location data, for example, can provide first responders with powerful, precise information that enables them to arrive at the scene of an emergency in less time. In the instance of a vehicle related emergency, additional rich data including the vehicle’s make, model, license plate, and more can also be connected to first responders — providing them with invaluable context before they arrive at the scene of an emergency.
Organizational Benefits of Seamlessly Connecting Workers to Emergency Services
Ultimately, these use cases, in which gig companies leverage data to better connect their workers with live safety agents and emergency response teams, boil down to the following benefits:
- Faster Response Times – Most importantly, facilitating the connection between gig workers and their location data with first responders helps decrease response times, save lives, and makes gig workers feel as if their company has got their back..
- Fewer False Alarms – By supporting gig workers with a team of live safety agents, companies can help validate true emergency situations, distinguish them from false alarms, and simultaneously provide their workforce with a sense of security and safety.
- Feedback – If one of your company’s workers contacted emergency services, wouldn’t you want to know how the emergency was resolved? Companies that establish a data connection between their apps and emergency services are also able to get real-time data back from first responders – providing data and clarity on how each emergency concluded.
Want to learn more about how to set your app apart from competitors and give gig workers peace of mind? Talk to a RapidSOS expert today to learn how to connect your life saving data to public safety, retain your best talent, and most importantly, keep your workers safe.