As countries begin to ease highly restrictive lockdown measures that were in place to protect citizens from the highly contagious Covid 19 virus, many workplaces are faced with the challenge of complying with safe distancing regulations in order to re-commence work. Many are increasingly going digital in response to these challenges by adopting a variety of different solutions that offer them the ability to better record, trace and monitor the risk levels at their workplaces in an automated manner.
In response to the global pandemic, companies across the world have once again rallied to provide innovative solutions to fill the current market gap. Many solutions center on their ability to help workplaces monitor safe distancing compliance, conduct contactless temperature recording, increase contact tracing logging capabilities and facilitate easy sign in when entering public places. These solutions are gaining traction in the business world across all industries as everyone prepares to kickstart the economy again, safely.
We will explore some of the latest solutions that can help workplaces in their safe distancing journey.
Mobile App Tracking
Smartphones are the invention of the century as they are essentially pocket sized supercomputers that are capable of a range of valuable activities including helping workplaces track high risk interactions. Their onboard Bluetooth capability allow them to record nearby devices and create contact tracing logs that can be made available should a suspected infection be detected. These mobile app based solutions ride on the personal phones of the employee and are cost effective. They are the most suitable for workplaces that are compatible with free mobile phone utilisation in the workplace.
BLE Based Wearables
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) based solutions have come out on top in the race toward safe distancing solutions in the workplace. BLE beacons and wearables provide an affordable way to automate tracking within the workplace to encourage good safe distancing practices. If every employee were to wear a BLE Wearable with safe distancing features, this would allow real time warnings to be triggered when people are too close to each other. The beauty of this is that it allows for non-human intervention and encourages people to comply.
Another feature of such a solution is that the BLE wearable also has the ability to log the information of nearby wearables that are too close in order to record all high risk interactions easily. In the event of an infection, workplaces would be able to conduct an electronic contact tracing exercise using the data points collected rather than manual tracing which is extremely time consuming.
These solutions are perfect for workplaces where mobile app based tracking isn’t feasible such as construction sites, factories, mines, ports and other industrial environments.
Biometric Thermal Scanners
A high temperature is one of the early symptoms of a Covid 19 infection. It makes sense that many workplaces have been encouraged to adopt strict temperature monitoring processes to ensure that those entering are not potentially sick. Demand for contactless methods are on the rise to decrease human to human interactions. Biometric thermal scanners answer this need by not only providing fast thermal scanning for temperature but also the ability to identify a person using facial recognition technology to tie the records together automatically. This dual ability allows for these types of solutions to double up as attendance systems within workplaces.
QR Codes & Apps
Many workplaces have implemented stricter measures for checking in and out to facilitate contact tracing measures. The use of low cost but effective solutions utilising unique QR codes belonging to particular companies allows for a central database of all entries and exits for a location to be captured. Since smartphones are widely used by the large majority of the public, this method of scanning to enter and submitting identification and contact details electronically reduces the need to use a communal pen and paper system that increases contact with the same surfaces.
Software Based Tracking
Providers of existing workplace management software have gone one step further to include features that facilitate a workplace’s compliance to stricter regulations around cleaning schedules, attendance, risk assessment and tracking. Some applications have provided additional functions to record cleaning works performed to increase hygiene compliance whilst others have contactless attendance features that allow the employee to sign in to prove their presence. Many have incorporated the ability to perform health declarations for visitors and also record temperature data into the system.
Technological innovations that have occurred in this short amount of time have proved how resilient we can be in face of massive challenges. As the world prepares to kickstart the global economy again, these innovations are sure to play a dominant role in helping workplaces increase their preparedness in the face of opening up again.
Read more about how Rock Africa has joined the global fight against Covid 19 through our pandemic related track and trace solutions such as iSPOT® Contact Trace and iSPOT® Thermal Trace.
