When nobody presses anything

For the emergency the worker cannot report.

Fall detection uses motion sensors to spot a slip, trip, fall or period of no movement, then raises an alarm automatically. The worker gets a short window to cancel if they are fine, and if they do not respond the case opens at the monitoring centre. It is supported on the Duress App, Falcon and Eagle. It is not enabled on Phoenix.

9% of FY26 activations were raised by fall detection, with nobody pressing anything State of Lone Worker Safety FY26
Why it exists

The problem it solves

Fall detection is the answer to a specific question: what happens when the worker is unconscious, trapped, or otherwise unable to reach the button they are carrying. Every other trigger assumes they can act.

It is not a replacement for a button. It is the layer underneath one, and the honest framing is that it catches a minority of incidents that would otherwise go unreported entirely.

How it works

Step by step

  1. 1

    The sensor notices

    An accelerometer detects the motion signature of a fall, or the absence of motion past a threshold, which is the man-down case where someone has collapsed rather than dropped.

  2. 2

    The device asks first

    A countdown starts and the worker is prompted to confirm they are alright. On Falcon and Eagle this is a 60-second no-response window. Cancelling it ends the matter with nobody contacted.

  3. 3

    No response escalates it

    If nothing comes back, the alarm is raised automatically and a case opens at the monitoring centre exactly as a button press would.

  4. 4

    The operator assesses

    They answer with live audio and location already up, and on Falcon and Eagle live video too, which is what lets them distinguish a dropped device from an unconscious worker.

Across the range

What each device does

Including the ones that do not have it. A device paired to a phone does not inherit the phone's capabilities.

Duress App

Supported

Uses the phone's own accelerometer for slip, trip, fall and no-movement detection.

See Duress App →

Falcon

Supported

On-device detection with a 60-second no-response escalation, running on Falcon's own 4G rather than through a phone.

See Falcon →

Eagle

Supported

Impact detection with a 60-second no-response window, plus on-device AI for aggression and fall signatures.

See Eagle →

Phoenix

Not available

Phoenix has an accelerometer, but fall detection is not enabled on it, so we do not count it as a fall-detection device. Use the Duress App alongside it, or Falcon, if this matters to the role.

See Phoenix →

Comparing devices rather than features? The full comparison table puts all four side by side, or the device selector asks six questions and recommends one.

Questions

Common questions

Does Phoenix have fall detection?
No. Phoenix contains an accelerometer, but fall detection is not enabled on it, so it should not be relied on for that. If a role needs automatic detection, pair the work with the Duress App on the worker's phone, or use Falcon.
How many false alarms does fall detection cause?
Enough that the cancel window exists. Setting a device down hard can look like a fall, which is why the device prompts before escalating rather than calling straight out. Cancelled prompts never reach the monitoring centre.
Is fall detection the same as a man-down alarm?
Man-down is the industry term and usually covers both cases: the impact of a fall, and no movement for longer than a set threshold. Our devices do both. The glossary entry covers the term itself in more detail.
Can fall detection replace a duress button?
No. In FY26 it accounted for 9% of activations while deliberate button presses and app alerts accounted for around 78%. It catches the incidents nobody could report, which is exactly why it is worth having, but it is a backstop rather than the primary path.

Talk it through with someone who knows the detail.