A long-term education led approach to protecting lone workers, improving incident response, and building safer driving habits using Smartrak telematics and Crash Detection.
Keeping lone workers safe across a large regional footprint
Wannon Water delivers essential services across regional and remote areas of south‑west Victoria. Operational staff regularly travel alone to treatment plants, headworks and emergency callouts — often on long journeys, on unsealed roads, and in areas with unreliable mobile coverage.
With much of this work performed solo, Wannon Water needed a way to: • Improve awareness of serious vehicle incidents. • Support faster, more consistent emergency response. • Manage safety risks in challenging conditions such as bushfires. • Build safer driving behaviours across a dispersed fleet.
The Solution
An integrated, education-led fleet safety approach
Following a workplace health and safety assessment, Wannon Water partnered with Smartrak to strengthen communication and visibility for staff working in isolation.
What began as a lone‑worker safety initiative evolved into an integrated fleet platform supporting safety, compliance and day‑to‑day operational oversight.
Key elements of the approach included: • Automated crash detection to improve awareness and escalation of serious vehicle incidents • Geofencing aligned to CFA high‑fire‑risk zones to manage bushfire exposure • Driver behaviour insights to support education and safer driving practices • Transparent use of data, reinforced through regular testing and staff engagement
Importantly, driving data was used to educate, not penalise, helping build trust, and long-term adoption of the system.
The Results
Improving incident awareness, safer driving, and sustained cultural change
Over more than a decade, Wannon Water has embedded fleet data into its safety framework, supporting consistent practices across a geographically dispersed operation. Results include:
• Improved awareness and response to serious vehicle incidents, particularly for lone and remote workers. • A sustained reduction in overspeed events across the fleet over more than 10 years. • High levels of staff trust and engagement driven by a clear, education‑led safety culture. • Better visibility to support decision‑making in high‑risk conditions, including bushfire events.
Today, Wannon Water continues to use fleet data to support safety, operational visibility and long‑term planning - including evidence‑based decisions around electric vehicle adoption.
