Hitachi Energy is a global technology leader delivering solutions across the energy value chain. They operate across multiple remote sites in the UK and Ireland, delivering complex projects in partnership with multinational customers including National Grid, Ørsted, Reseau de Transport d’electricite (RTE) (France), UK Power Networks and Equinor. With a workforce of over 100 employees across 20 UK & Ireland sites, they manage high-stakes operations in diverse environments, each with unique safety and compliance requirements.

The Challenge

Hitachi Energy’s rapid growth across multiple sites created fragmented lone working processes. Each site utilised its own tools and workflows, leading to inefficiencies, duplicated effort, and confusion for frontline workers moving between locations. This lack of cohesion increased the administrative burden for SHEQ teams, made governance and benchmarking more time-consuming, and introduced risks as workers navigated varying safety protocols.

To address these challenges, Hitachi Energy needed a centralised lone working solution that could provide consistency across the business unit while aligning with their safety management system. The solution had to enable a shared approach to governance and benchmarking, remain tailorable to site-specific risk assessments and customer requirements , and keep administrative overhead very low.  

Additionally, it was critical that the solution could be rolled out quickly to support their growing footprint and deliver a frontline-first user experience that would drive adoption among workers.

The Solution

Hitachi Energy implemented Visibly’s lone working solution, leveraging its enterprise-grade standards, frontline-first design , and hybrid escalation model. This provided a robust, scalable approach tailored to the unique challenges of their diverse operational environments.

A single, standardised lone working standard was established, fully aligned with Hitachi Energy’s safety management system. Tailored configurations allowed the solution to adapt to site-specific risk assessments and customer requirements without adding complexity. This balance ensured consistency across all sites while addressing specific regional needs.

Visibly’s intuitive, frontline-first design enabled rapid adoption, with 98% of workers requiring no training. The hybrid escalation model combined central monitoring with operational escalation, ensuring alerts were handled promptly, even in low-signal environments. Features like Low Signal Mode maintained connectivity and protection in remote locations.

Key features of the solution included:

• Enterprise-grade standards: Ensuring reliability, security , and scalability.
• Customisation and control: Aligning with safety management systems while tailoring by site and activity.
• Frontline-first design: Driving adoption and usability with minimal training.
• Operational resilience: Effective performance in real-world, low-signal conditions.

The Results

Hitachi Energy’s adoption of Visibly’s lone working solution delivered significant operational and business improvements. The app’s intuitive design led to strong frontline engagement, with 92% of users rating it as “very quick and easy to use.” Governance and reporting processes became far more efficient, with the time required to produce cross-site benchmarking reports reduced by 76%. Similarly, the administrative burden on SHEQ teams was cut by 68%, saving approximately 5–10 hours per week.

The solution also proved highly effective in real-world conditions. SOS and missed check-in alerts were responded to in under five seconds on average, even in low-signal environments where 100% of missed check-ins still triggered alerts in the monitoring hub.

During a remote shift, a worker failed to check in at the expected time. Despite intermittent coverage at the location, the missed check-in still triggered escalation in the monitoring hub. The team followed the agreed process, confirmed the worker’s status, and closed the loop, reinforcing confidence in the system and the hybrid response model.

This combination of simplicity, reliability and scalability allowed Hitachi Energy to protect over 100 employees across 20 sites in just weeks, while maintaining alignment with their safety management system and customer requirements.

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Why It Matters

Hitachi Energy’s success demonstrates that effective lone working solutions don’t have to be complex or burdensome. By aligning with HSE best practices, they achieved consistent, risk-based controls that scale across diverse environments.

This approach not only improved daily efficiency but also strengthened strategic safety outcomes, ensuring compliance, reducing risk, and building trust with workers and customers alike.