Geoforce And Globalstar SPOT Lone Oilfield Workers (SatCom)

[SatNews] The safety of thousands of remote workers in the U.S. and Canada is a serious issue.

Globalstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:GSAT) and Geoforce Inc. today announced that the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the United States has selected Geoforce and Globalstar to help monitor the safety and location of its lone workers. Globalstar is a provider of mobile satellite voice and data services, and Geoforce Inc., provides asset management solutions for the oil and gas industry.

Using Globalstar’s commercial and intrinsically safe (IS) version of the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger™ (SPOT IS™), Geoforce will provide the oil and gas company with the ability to monitor and track the location of its remote employees who maintain and monitor the condition of its pipelines and well sites across North America.

  Using both the GPS and Globalstar satellite network, the hand-held SPOT IS enables workers to send one-way predefined messages with their GPS location for checking-in, at any time, with contacts or to summon help in an emergency. Using the Geoforce application the SPOT IS user’s remote location can also be visually monitored by the company on a Google Maps™ interface. Because SPOT IS uses the Globalstar satellite network, employees can send these messages to others, even when they are working far beyond the range of terrestrial wireless and cellular coverage. Using Geoforce, other assets such as frac tanks, containers, chemical tanks, vehicles and rental equipment can also be tracked at the same time in the same application.

“As a leading provider of oil and gas M2M asset monitoring solutions, Geoforce is an ideal partner for Globalstar’s expansion into this rapidly growing segment of the mobile satellite marketplace,” said Steve Smits, Vice President of International Sales and Marketing for Globalstar, Inc. “Now that Geoforce has successfully completed preliminary trials with its customer, we anticipate adoption of our commercial SPOT IS solution throughout the customer’s remote operations in the United States as well as in Canada, where lone worker legislation mandates the use of such equipment.”

Mr. Smits added, “Our SPOT consumer products have helped initiate more than 1,300 rescues worldwide since first being introduced and we believe that the enterprise workplace safety or commercial potential for SPOT is equally significant.”

“Geoforce is excited to have built this solution with Globalstar,” said Matt Ulrich, Geoforce’s Head of Sales – Offshore and International. “Their global satellite network and rugged IS SPOT device are ideal for the extremely remote and harsh conditions our customers deal with every day. By combining their hardware and network with Geoforce’s ability to provide company-specific GIS data, manage multiple asset types in one system, send automated alerts and generate robust reports, we now have the perfect solution for the monitoring and safety compliance of oilfield lone workers.”

Globalstar subsidiary, Spot LLC, introduced its line of SPOT consumer products, including the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger, to the recreational retail marketplace. SPOT IS is targeted to the commercial enterprise market and is specially designed to operate in certain potentially hazardous atmospheric conditions. The commercial SPOT IS version is certified Intrinsically Safe for use in Class I, Division 1, Groups A-D environments under UL 913 and CSA C22.2 No. 157. These certifications allow companies operating in potentially combustible environments where the presence of flammable gases or vapors may exist, such as transportation, government, natural resources and oil and gas, to take advantage of SPOT messaging functionality. Certification was completed by MET Laboratories, Inc.