For businesses with lone workers
Low-risk lone working: a simple sign of life
With Ondira, anyone working alone checks in on a fixed schedule. If one is missed, their supervisor gets an email. For low-risk work, that’s an extra safety net, not a substitute for Suva-style monitoring.
Free version · Plus CHF 3 a month or CHF 30 a year
Lone working is normal. Going unnoticed shouldn’t be.
The caretaker checks the boiler in the basement after hours. The service engineer works alone at a customer’s site. The lab technician stays late. In many businesses, this is everyday work.
Suva, the Swiss accident insurer that also oversees workplace safety, puts it plainly: someone working alone may not get help in time after an accident. As an employer, you assess that risk and take suitable measures.
At low risk, Suva requires no special monitoring if the person can call for help themselves. But that isn’t always possible. For that moment, Ondira adds a simple sign of life.
“I don’t want to monitor anyone. I just want to know everyone made it back up from the basement.”
How it works in your business
There are no team or admin features. Each person uses the regular app with their own account.
Set the schedule per shift
The employee sets a deadline: at shortest every 8 hours with Ondira Plus, daily on the free version.
Supervisor as trusted contact
They add their supervisor or a colleague as a contact, for example under “Notify first”, and the on-call service as the next level.
Check in with one tap
When the job is done or the time comes, one tap on “I’m here” is enough, and nobody gets a message.
No check-in, then an email
The employee is reminded first, then the contact gets an email and follows up as set out in your emergency plan.
What employers and safety officers ask
- Is that legally sufficient?
- That depends on your risk assessment. For periodic monitoring, Suva assumes at most eight or four hours until rescue. Ondira alerts after 8 hours plus a two-hour grace period at the earliest, so alone it isn’t enough. Where immediate help is essential, Suva requires monitoring independent of the person, or bans lone working. Not legal advice: check with your safety specialist.
- Isn’t this workplace surveillance?
- Check-in times and locations are personal data too. Ondira must not be used to monitor behaviour or performance. Employers must assess purpose, necessity and proportionality, inform employees transparently and respect their participation and data protection rights. Consent alone does not replace this assessment.
- Is there a team dashboard?
- No. Ondira has no team, admin or reporting features. The supervisor only hears something when a check-in is missed. For a central overview, a professional lone worker system is better.
- What does it cost per employee?
- Free with a daily check-in, or Ondira Plus with 8- and 12-hour rhythms at CHF 3 a month or CHF 30 a year per person. No business terms.
- There’s no signal in the basement or the forest.
- Checking in needs a brief internet connection. If you know you’ll be out of coverage, check in before and after and set the interval to match. A dead spot can trigger a false alarm. Where there is no signal on site and the risk is high, you need a solution with its own radio link.
What Ondira is not
Not a lone worker alarm device
Ondira has no man-down or no-motion sensors, monitoring centre or certification. For hazardous work, the risk assessment determines the required monitoring and rescue arrangements, or whether lone working is prohibited. Ondira does not replace these measures.
No live tracking
No camera, no microphone. Location only if the person chooses, at check-in.
Not an emergency call
Ondira sends emails, it doesn’t call for help. In an emergency, call 144 or 112, or Rega on 1414.
Why Ondira fits in a workplace
Check-in yes or no, nothing more
No behaviour profile, no time tracking. History is kept for 14 days.
Designed for Swiss FADP and GDPR
No health data, no ad identifiers, no data sales. Server location: Switzerland.
Honest about limits
We say clearly where Ondira isn’t enough.
Made in Valais
Developed and run by diehm it-services in Brig-Glis, Switzerland.
Daniel Diehm and Oliver Gepp built Ondira because something was missing between emergency call systems and location apps: a simple sign that all is well. The story behind it
Lone worker safety: frequently asked questions
What are the lone working regulations in Switzerland?
Article 8 of the Ordinance on the Prevention of Accidents and Occupational Diseases (VUV) requires employers to have anyone doing dangerous work alone monitored. Article 6 of the Employment Act adds health protection duties. Suva sets this out in its guide 44094 and checklist 67023. Our guide to lone working explains more.
What is an alternative to a lone worker alarm system?
For periodic monitoring, Suva lists check-in calls, rounds, an expected report or a pre-alarm system. Ondira is no alternative to an alarm system, just an extra safety net for low risk. Where monitoring independent of the person is needed, an alarm system is required.
How does a dead man’s switch for employees work on a phone?
The person actively checks in on a fixed schedule. If a check-in is missed, they are reminded first, then the contact gets an email. Ondira detects neither falls nor stillness, only the missing check-in after the deadline. The grace period is two hours by default.
How often should a lone worker check in?
That follows from your risk assessment. For periodic monitoring, Suva works with a maximum rescue time of eight or four hours. Ondira’s shortest rhythm is 8 hours; it isn’t built for that.
Does the supervisor need the app?
No. A trusted contact only needs an email address. That inbox does need to be read while the job is under way, though.
Can the employer see where staff are?
Ondira shows no live location. If location is switched on, it is sent only at check-in, and the person decides that in their own app. The alert chain itself doesn’t need location.
One building block, used honestly
Assess your tasks with your safety specialist first. Where people can call for help themselves and an extra safety net makes sense, try Ondira.
Setting Ondira up for someone else? Install it together on the phone of the person who checks in.
Free version, no credit card. Plus can be cancelled for the end of the term.
Feedback & news
Want to hear what changes in Ondira? Leave your email address. Feedback and wishes are welcome at support@ondira.app.