Peabody Lone Worker Safety | Peoplesafe Case Study

Peoplesafe recently sat down with Sara Tutton, Group Director Health & Safety at Peabody, to discuss how the organisation protects colleagues across housing, customer-facing and care services, how it matches personal safety technology to different levels of risk and how it has embedded strong usage across more than 3,000 users.

Peabody provides homes and works with communities across London and the South East, alongside a broad range of care and support services. Its colleagues regularly meet residents and members of the public in homes, neighbourhoods, community settings and care environments.

For many of these colleagues, face-to-face contact takes place without immediate support nearby. The risks can differ considerably from one role to another, so Peabody needs an approach that is consistent across the organisation while remaining practical for each person’s work.

Rather than relying on a single device or app for everyone, Peabody uses role-based risk assessment to determine the most suitable level of protection and gives colleagues a choice where the assessed risk allows it.

Understanding Personal Safety Risk Across Diverse Services

Peabody’s mix of housing, community-facing and care services creates a varied personal safety risk profile. As Sara explains, any service involving face-to-face contact can result in harm, regardless of whether the colleague works in housing management, customer support, care or another public-facing function.

The risks include verbal abuse, physical assault, sudden ill health and falls from height. Colleagues may also witness serious incidents, including assaults involving weapons, while working in residents’ homes or within the community.

Peabody’s approach extends beyond scheduled work activity. Colleagues who may be experiencing domestic abuse, or who are concerned about their safety while commuting, are also encouraged to use their Peoplesafe solution for reassurance and access to support.

The challenge was to protect a large, complex user base without applying the same technology to every role. Peabody needed to distinguish between higher-risk work where a dedicated device should be mandatory, medium-risk work where colleagues could choose a suitable option and lower-risk or infrequent activity where app-based protection may be proportionate.

The focus was on:

• protecting colleagues across housing, community and care services from assault, ill health and falls
• matching the level and format of protection to the assessed risk and practical demands of each role
• maintaining clear oversight and strong usage across more than 3,000 users

Matching the Right Solution to Each Role

Peabody uses a blended solution made up of Peoplesafe MySOS devices and the Peoplesafe lone worker app. Managers determine the appropriate option through role-based risk assessment, considering how often colleagues work face to face, the nature of the task and the practical environment in which the solution will be used.

Customer-facing roles assessed as higher risk are issued with a device, while colleagues in medium-risk roles may be able to choose between a device and the app. Lower-risk or infrequent users are generally suited to app-based protection.

Practicality is central to the decision. An infrequent user may find the app the most appropriate option because it provides protection through a smartphone they already carry. Someone who works with their hands may be better suited to a MySOS device that can remain readily accessible while they carry out the task.

Where the risk assessment allows a choice, Peabody encourages colleagues to select the solution that best fits their work. Sara says this flexibility has been very beneficial because people are more likely to carry, test and use a solution that feels natural within their day-to-day routine.

Peabody supports adoption through a structured usage programme. Every manager receives a monthly report and is expected to review performance and encourage their teams to use or test their solution. Usage is also a key performance indicator, overseen by the Peabody Trust Board, the Executive, and the Health and Safety Committee.

The Health and Safety Team supports this approach through its weekly Test It Tuesday reminders. Users who have not used or tested their device or app within a 30-day period receive a prompt, helping keep the process visible and preventing personal safety technology from becoming something that is issued but forgotten.

This combination of choice, local management and senior oversight has helped Peabody consistently achieve usage above 80% across more than 3,000 users.

A Partnership Built Around Support and Oversight

Peabody began working with Peoplesafe in 2023. As the partnership has developed, dedicated account support and comprehensive reporting have helped Peabody manage its contract, Nexus portal and large user base effectively.

Comprehensive data reporting is an important part of the partnership. The reports help Peabody identify non-users, manage leavers and maintain accurate oversight of a complex and changing user base. This information also supports the monthly management process and the organisation’s wider governance of usage.

Sara describes Peabody’s relationship with its Peoplesafe account manager and customer support team as very good, highlighting their solution-focused approach when questions or issues arise.

When Peabody reviewed its lone worker provision in June 2026, it renewed with Peoplesafe for a further three years. The renewal reflected confidence in the usability of the devices and apps, the responsiveness of the Alarm Receiving Centre and the visibility Nexus provides across thousands of users.

For Peabody, these elements make the service practical for colleagues to use while giving managers the oversight they need to support personal safety across a large and varied organisation.

Strong Usage and Clear Oversight at Scale

Peoplesafe has helped Peabody establish a flexible personal safety framework that reflects how colleagues actually work. Managers can apply a consistent risk assessment process while selecting a device or app that is proportionate to the role and practical for the individual.

Colleagues who routinely or occasionally meet residents and members of the public have a direct route to support through a solution suited to their working environment. The service can also reassure colleagues who feel unsafe while commuting or who may need additional personal safety support outside a routine appointment.

Peabody’s reporting and governance process keeps usage visible at every level. Managers receive the information needed to engage their teams; the Health and Safety Team follows up with inactive users and senior committees can monitor usage as a key performance indicator.

Consistent usage above 80% across more than 3,000 users demonstrates the value of combining suitable technology with active management. Nexus also gives Peabody the oversight needed to manage non-users, leavers and a complex organisational structure more effectively.

The three-year renewal reflects Peabody’s confidence in a service that supports its wider approach to colleague safety across housing, community and care services.