With over 120,000 active workers spread across the Rail industry nationally, Sentinel is the largest health and safety passport system in the world.    

Sentinel is delivered by Reference Point and was implemented in 2013. In the seven years since its launch over 30 million card scans have taken place, using the Sentinel Site Access mobile app. A worker’s Sentinel smart card is securely scanned upon entry to a site, assuring they meet the requirements to safely access work or training.  

 In 2020, Sentinel recorded 4 million card scans for 120,000 different workers, with more than 1.5 million competencies shared between them and more than 3,000 different sponsors. Sentinel allows the Rail industry to overcome various levels of complexity within the Authority to Work process, by harmonising the data for the entire workforce in one place. Regardless of location or employer, any worker holding a valid Sentinel card is permitted to safely access a site or training course, provided they meet the access requirements. 

 The implementation of Sentinel reinforces the level of importance Network Rail apply to the safety of the workforce, across the industry. Not only for the whole of Network Rail, but other associated organisations as well, including rail workers from TFL, DLR and London Underground, among others, who use Sentinel as their worker health and safety system.  

The use of Sentinel goes to show how seriously Network Rail takes the safety of their workforce, and it is making a difference. Each month Sentinel prevents an average 1000 worker swipe-in attempts as they fail to meet Network Rail’s stringent site access compliance requirements. Each of these occurrences represents the prevention of an accident or incident by the Sentinel system, helping to ensure workforces return home safely at the end of their shift.  

Developed by leading technology specialists Reference Point, using their gold standard SkillGuard codebase, Sentinel is a customised system and is supported by Mitie. No other workforce access assurance system is able to handle the same level of complexity, or has the infrastructure required to process worker data as quickly. This is a testament to Reference Point’s commitment to innovation, excellence and long term experience. In fact, 25% of Reference Point’s annual spending is ringfenced for R&D. This is why you can be certain Reference Point will always be at the vanguard of worker safety technology, protecting workers and businesses globally.   

If you are looking for a system to help you seriously assure the safety of your workers, and in turn your business, then you can trust Reference Point.  

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