A Guide to Return to Work Safely with New Technologies

This past March, many companies had to abruptly shutdown in-person operations due to the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. Now, even as case numbers continue to rise, businesses are resuming operations in the ‘new normal’ environment and are working to develop strategies to enable most employees to return to the office.

Guidelines and best practices from organizations like Canadian Business Resilience Network and Centers for Disease Control are a great first step to understanding what your business needs to reopen safely. Even with regulator guidance, many organizations are still challenged with ensuring:

• social distancing guidelines are maintained,
• compliance with local and industry regulations,
• health and safety expectations from employees’ and organized labour are met; and
• a positive case in the workplace is managed quickly and appropriately.

At Aware360, we believe innovative technologies focused on prevention and action can address these challenges – ensuring your people are healthy and safe, while maintaining business continuity.

Prevention:

Many prevention strategies are now widely known to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. These include handwashing, wearing a mask, not going to work if you are sick, and keeping a distance of at least two meters from other individuals. Businesses are now required to make sure workers and guests are following these guidelines, and in a busy workplace this can be difficult.

How can you make sure people maintain social distancing? Social distancing reminder wearables, like the GoBand, help to remind wearers with a vibration and LED lights to maintain a distance of two meters or greater. These devices help to make social distancing a habit through behavior intervention.

How do you make sure people are not entering your business with symptoms? Many businesses now require employees to fill in a daily health questionnaire. Unfortunately, if it is a paper-based system, potentially ill workers have to submit them at the workplace, risking the possibility of infecting others. New digital daily health checks, like the WorkerWallet Daily Check, allow workers and guests to fill in the secure assessment before going to work, limiting the risk of potential spread.

Action:

No matter how effective your organization’s prevention methods are, there is still the possibility of having to manage a positive case. While public health authorities are responsible for performing contact tracing, in an often backlogged system this can take days, putting more of your workforce at risk. When managing a positive coronavirus case time is of the essence. Leveraging business-focused contact tracing systems, like the GoBand solution, allows your organization to quickly act with accurate data in the event of a positive case.

Technology as PPE:

While traditionally personal protective equipment (PPE) is thought of as clothing items worn to protect oneself, we challenge you to think of technology as an integral part of PPE. Innovations in technology can help protect workers by preventing the spread of COVID-19 and allowing your business to act quickly if required. By embracing the future of safety, your business can ensure Duty of Care and business continuity now and through any challenges tomorrow may bring.

About Aware360:

Aware360 understands people are the most important part of any workplace and provides the tools to keep employees safe throughout their day. Driven by our passion for people, the Aware360 suite of safety solutions leverage personal technology such as smartphones, wearables and satellite devices to keep people safe and productive, while reducing corporate risk. Visit Aware360.com to learn more.