CONSTRUCTION company May Gurney is using a phone tracking system to keep tabs on workers on sites around the UK.

The company has opted for the FleetOnline.net system and is one of the first in the construction industry to use it.

Sarah Chapman, operations manager of May Gurney Piling, said: 'We have many teams all over the country, each led by a foreman and they all have company mobile phones. We use FleetOnline.net as a control so we know where our teams are and it is working well.'

The system can trace the location of a mobile phone over the internet and this information is displayed on a street level map on a computer. Chapman added: 'Accuracy is not pinpoint, but it is good enough for us to tell whether someone is on site or travelling.'

The company has addressed the issue of privacy as when a user adds a new mobile phone to their list to be traced, an SMS message is sent to the mobile asking for a special confirmation code. Tracking can only be carried out when that confirmation code is returned and the system can be adjusted so staff can only be tracked during working hours.