Near Quebec City, the City of Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier protects employees who work alone at night at its winter sliding park, on ice and at -30 °C. Foreman Steve Rochette and employee Laurent Juneau describe how the Neovigie app was rolled out and show a live alert being handled.
Easy to install, inexpensive: when it comes to saving a life, it doesn't cost much.
Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier has about 10,000 residents. Its Parks and Buildings Division has around twenty employees, including the sliding park crew: in winter, they often work alone at night to ice three kilometres of forest trails, at temperatures as low as -30 °C.
The City knew who was where, but could not fully protect its employees during 8 to 10-hour night shifts: a fall on the ice followed by loss of consciousness could go unnoticed.
The City rolled out the Neovigie app on the phones it already provides to employees. A dedicated project manager supported the project from start to finish, by email, Teams or on site. A single training session was enough for employees.
Alerts follow a call cascade that includes the fire department's on-call officers, so someone always responds, at any hour.
The video shows a manual alarm handled live: an automatic call giving the employee's address, acknowledgement, then a call to the employee to check on him. Employees welcomed the app as a protection rather than a monitoring tool. The City recommends Neovigie for its ease of installation and moderate cost.
Video in French. English translation of the transcript.
My name is Steve Rochette, I am a foreman for the City of Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, in the suburbs of Quebec City. It is a town of about 10,000 residents. The City has three divisions: roads, environmental services, and parks and buildings. I am the foreman for the Parks and Buildings Division. We have 20 employees with different trades, including electricians and cabinetmakers. All the street furniture you can see is made in-house by the Parks and Buildings Division.
Before using Neovigie, we knew who was where, but we couldn't fully protect our workers. People were doing long 8 to 10-hour night shifts alone, and accidents could happen. That is why we wanted to find a solution. We called on Neovigie because the City runs a sliding park. In winter, employees have to work at night and they are often alone. They have to ice and maintain three kilometres of trails in the forest. I found it dangerous to work alone: if something happened, if they lost consciousness outside at -25 in winter, there was no way of knowing. We were looking for a method, we found Neovigie, we contacted them, and we are really satisfied.
At the sliding park, working at night at -30, alone, walking on ice all the time, there is a risk of falling, hitting your head, losing consciousness. We didn't want that to happen. With Neovigie, it is 100% safety: since they always have it with them, we know someone will come and help them if there is a problem.
My name is Laurent Juneau, I work for the City of Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier. We are at the sliding park, where we have skating rinks, a skating trail in the woods and a slide. The day shift starts at 5 a.m. and the person who comes in is alone until 7 or 7:30. It can also happen at night, when someone comes in to water the ice with a truck: you are alone then too. I always have my phone on me. I find it a very safe system, simply because we are alone, and also because when I get off the ice resurfacer, we are often on the ice. There is ice everywhere here. It is a very good system. I tested everything and I really felt safe. It is good protection, as I said, we are often alone.
Alert demonstration: "Manual alarm triggered by Laurent Juneau at 3:52 p.m., Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier. On-site location. Please check on Laurent Juneau. The alarm has been acknowledged, you will be connected to Laurent Juneau, please hold." "Hi Laurent, are you OK? I have an alarm from your app." "I'm fine, I dropped my phone." "Ah, OK. All good, thanks."
The City is quite forward-thinking on many projects. Uptake went very well. Above all, it is there to protect them. It is not about monitoring them, it has nothing to do with that. It is really so that they feel protected. They welcomed the new app into their daily way of working.
What I liked about the company is the support we got. We had a dedicated project manager who took care of us from start to finish. When we had questions or concerns, we raised our hand and she was always available, by email, by Teams or in person. That was reassuring for us. We had great support to set up the Neovigie app.
After one training session, employees understood very easily. It is simple: three or four functions in the app and you are good to go. It is easy to use, that is what we want. Workers don't want it to become complicated. Once I understood it, it wasn't complicated: it is a simple app. I was on board when I heard we would have a system like this, I thought it was great. It gave me a sense of security. I am very satisfied and I seriously recommend it. In terms of safety, it is fantastic.
Why did we choose Neovigie? The app was easy to set up. It installs on existing phones or on phones the employees already have. In our case, the City already provided the phones, but they could be personal phones. It was simple to install. With Neovigie, we also have call lists, a call cascade. At the City, we have on-call officers at the fire department who are on the call list, so someone is always available. In the worst case, the call goes to the fire department, and someone will go and rescue the person, who is probably unconscious.
I would recommend the app for many reasons: easy to install, inexpensive. When it comes to saving a life, it doesn't cost much. Easy to install, inexpensive, and easy to use.
