their physical work centers has been constant and growing. The end of telework, or at least its preferential nature, is just around the corner.
And it still happens that many workers have health and safety concerns about this situation. For this reason, companies are developing systems and technologies that guarantee work environments free from the threat of contagion.
“When we talk about a covid-free space, we mean that it is for people, employees and customers,” says José Daniel García Espinel, Director of Innovation at Prosegur, a company that works in the field of security.
“There are two types of technologies: some focused on the work environment, the building itself; and others focused on the specific safety of the employee ”. According to García Espinel, these systems, with a clear practical approach and far from science fiction, will soon reach most work environments.
“They are safe-employee technologies . The idea is that they give peace of mind and minimize the risk of contagion ”, he summarizes.
One of the measures that we could see shortly is the so-called digital company passport. Using a color code, this functionality, available on mobile phones, will indicate to employees whether or not they can enter the work environment when they are at access control.
The color code marks three different levels. If the passport is green, the employee can access. If it is in yellow, a case that occurs if the employee has been in contact with someone infected or has suspicious symptoms, he or she must telework and go to a health center to get the relevant checks. If it is red, the employee will not be able to access.
A fundamental element of the passport is the ability to perform self-diagnostics, a functionality that will determine the access color of the passport. Based on the protocols that each company has, the employee, before going to the office, can do a simple self-check on their health status.
“From the mobile, and based on simple questions, such as if I have a fever or muscle aches, the worker can detect contagion symptoms,” explains García Espinel. “If you are infected or have worrisome symptoms, we can remotely change the color of your passport.”
If you are at risk, your access passport will automatically turn yellow. “Subsequently, you will be instructed to telework and take the relevant medical tests at your health center,” the expert adds.
“In this way, employees with a green passport have the peace of mind of being in a work environment without people affected or at risk,” explains García Espinel, who emphasizes that this passport must be combined with external care.
“The management of the passports of an entire staff is done centrally, remotely and in real time through control centers,” he adds. “Thus, in the event of any incident or question regarding access, the worker can be assisted almost instantly”.
The health authorities of many countries have dedicated themselves to retracing the path of an infected person to isolate cases of covid-19.
This method, a kind of reverse tracing, is also replicated in the workplace. And, like the self-diagnostic functionality, it will determine the color of each employee’s digital passport.
You only need two mobiles with the same software installed. “From the moment two workers are in contact [something that the program establishes based on the distance and the time they have been together], the mobiles exchange a series of random codes sent by bluetooth.
This allows you to know, tomorrow, what codes have been close to the infected person and to notify all those people who have been close to warn them that they are at risk, ”explains García Espinel.
The system traces contacts between employees in an automated, anonymous and decentralized manner. The access passport of those who have been at risk will turn yellow. “The protocol calculates a risk score based on each contact,” continues the expert, “always guaranteeing privacy.”
Geolocation allows to know precisely which corridors and rooms an infected person has traveled or which are the areas of a company with the highest traffic.
“With geolocation, it is possible to know which are the areas, within some offices, with the highest occupational occupation”, García Espinel abounds. “This is essential to focus disinfections and cleanings of the work environment in which an affected employee has been present in those places.”
Even if we go back to the office, physical distance will still be something to respect. In order not to lose sight of this security measure, there are applications that will notify us when we breach it.
“If you are very close to another employee or do not maintain the security meter and a half, the mobile, for example, will vibrate and alert that you are skipping the protocol,” says García Espinel.
These functionalities and technologies are already grouped in a mobile app that Prosegur is testing in its own work centers. An application that, according to García Espinel, will soon be commercialized in the business world with the mission of protecting workers and clients in a simple and effective way.
Of course: “Having an app without assistance in any type of incident or problem does not work”, warns the expert. “The key is that all processes are monitored in real time by professionals from their control centers. It is this combination of technology and supervision that gives value to the system ”.
