SafetyCulture acquires safety app for decentralized frontline workers who often go it alone

A global workplace operations company with its U.S. headquarters in Kansas City on Tuesday announced the acquisition of SHEQSY, a cloud-based lone worker safety app — a move meant to address an underinvestment in frontline processes, enablement, and emerging technologies, said Luke Anear.

“Frontline workers make up 80 percent of our global workforces,” said Anear, CEO and founder of SafetyCulture. “They’re our first responders who can capture information that would otherwise be missed: our eyes and ears, at the actionable point of risk. Despite this, they’ve been historically underserved when it comes to technology, especially lone workers. Just 1 percent of venture capital funding is invested in tooling to support the frontline workforce.”

An early investor of SHEQSY, SafetyCulture acquired the business to offer a cutting-edge lone worker safety solution to an increasingly dispersed and decentralized global workforce. The partnership will accelerate SHEQSY’s freemium offering and growth into the U.S. and European markets. (The company’s footprint already includes customers in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.)

Click here to read more about the billion-dollar-plus valuation in 2021 for SafetyCulture, which boasts customers from Kmart to the United Nations.

Founded in 2017 by Australian entrepreneur Hays Bailey, SHEQSY gives organizations visibility of their employees in the field to ensure their safety when alone. It also gives the workers access to a platform powering real-time alerts to the organization for missed check-ins, failing to finish a job as planned, and quick duress alarm activation for peace of mind in case anything happens.

The integrated suite helps workers feel safer when working alone, as well as allowing businesses to easily manage, monitor and report on their safety, Anear said.

“The last two years have shown us the importance of safety across all industries,” he said. “We’re excited to be helping more businesses to access SHEQSY’s unique, innovative technology so that this essential group of workers feel more protected in their roles day-to-day.”

Partnering with SafetyCulture gives SHEQSY the opportunity to accelerate its international expansion and protect millions of lone workers around the globe, said Bailey, CEO and founder of the acquired startup.

“We built SHEQSY to give these individuals access to a mobile-first safety solution, making clunky devices a thing of the past,” he added. “The features we built into the mobile app are currently the best solution for lone workers available and by teaming up with SafetyCulture we can continue to build on that strong foundation. The pandemic has reaffirmed the importance of our mission more than ever as we continue to help businesses ensure the safety of employees working alone in the community.”

Click here to learn more about SHEQSY.