by Brianna Crandall — June 29, 2020 — As organizations around the world resume operations, new requirements for creating a safe workplace for employees are driving the need to automate approaches to manage employee social distancing and conduct contact tracing. HID Global, a global provider of identity solutions, has just announced landmark additions to its HID Location Services internet-of-things (IoT) ecosystem designed to simplify and streamline managing these protocols, and drive compliance to federal, state and local requirements to help prevent workplace exposure to COVID-19.
The new HID Location Services for Workplace Safety physical distancing application leverages Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) HID BEEKS Aware fobs that alert employees when they are closer than 6 feet (2 meters) for a specified period of time. The new contact tracing application uses the same HID BEEKS Aware fob or a BEEKS badge/badge holder that is easily added to existing identification (ID) cards, providing a full digital trail of an employee’s whereabouts and historical interactions while at work. This makes it possible to rapidly respond to cases and activate isolation procedures as needed.
HID Location Services for Workplace Safety social distancing app alerts employees when they are closer than 6 feet for a specified time. Image courtesy HID Global. Click to enlarge.
The physical distancing application is currently being piloted and adopted by major healthcare institutions and enterprise organizations worldwide, including at HID’s North American headquarters and manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas.
Mark Robinton, vice president of IoT Services, Identification Technologies with HID Global, stated:
Digitally managing social distancing is critical to encouraging the necessary behavioral shifts that will create a safer and more secure environment to which employees feel comfortable returning to work. Our goal with HID Location Services for Workplace Safety is to use our established IoT ecosystem to help organizations restore productivity with confidence by making it easier for everyone to adjust to workplace physical distancing and taking the manual leg-work out of contact tracing.
How it works:
- Employers define distancing policies and alert parameters; zones can be created with geo-fences around high-traffic areas (breakrooms, hallways, lobbies) to minimize large congregations of people.
- HID BEEKS Aware BLE fobs are issued to employees, visitors and contractors to carry while at work. Using peer-to-peer capabilities, the fob will flash and sound a brief audible alert when employees are within 6 feet (2 meters) for more than 2 minutes (or as configured by administrator).
- With a click of a button, detailed reporting enables contact tracing using historical data on movement and interactions in order to trigger safety protocols.
For standalone contact tracing, employers can couple the functionality with existing employee ID badges.
Up and running within hours — no integration needed:
- Fast setup using HID BEEKS devices, secure HID Bluzone Cloud Software, and HID BluFi/other gateways
- Immediate access to real-time analytics that include location data such as interaction type and contact duration (including start and end times)
- Uses existing enterprise networks or Bluetooth over wi-fi network connectivity and cloud services to simplify implementation. No additional infrastructure, hardware or network wiring needed
Building upon a proven IoT ecosystem
HID Location Services is already in broad use by Fortune 500 companies for managing building occupancy, optimizing office and facility space, asset tracking and monitoring the health of equipment, says the company.
The latest workplace safety additions to HID Location Services underscore the IoT ecosystem’s ability to quickly scale and adapt to the dynamic requirements of today’s hospitals, manufacturing facilities, and enterprise organizations.
The system’s real-time monitoring and analytics capabilities can help ensure compliance to a number of other safety requirements, such as hand hygiene policies and other regulations that may be introduced as part of the “next normal.”
Organizations are able to leverage their investment beyond today’s global health crisis, since HID Location Services lays the foundation to easily add even more IoT applications — all of which can be centrally managed on a single platform, points out HID Global.
Find out more information about HID Location Services for Workplace Safety and download the infographic from the HID Global website. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company has over 4,000 employees worldwide and operates international offices that support more than 100 countries, and is an ASSA ABLOY Group brand.
