In a recent release, and in response to the need for greater worker protection during the COVID-19 pandemic, Triax Technologies, a provider of IoT worksite technology, has announced a new IoT system: Proximity Trace. The new solution is designed to provide proximity distancing alerts and contact tracing through a wearable device for workers in many industries, including healthcare, construction, heavy industrial, energy and manufacturing. The company says that it offers added protection for essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and will help companies get workers back to work safely, while addressing recommended social distancing practices.
“In talking with our customers, we recognized a critical industry need to keep workers safe from COVID-19 exposure on the worksite, so we quickly got to work developing a solution,” said Robert Costantini, CEO, Triax Technologies. “We leveraged our experience in IoT technology and workforce safety monitoring to address companies’ urgent needs for workers to maintain appropriate distances, to perform historical contact tracing for any employee testing positive for the virus, and to assist companies in getting their workforce back on the job as they implement new safety protocols. Our solution is designed to ease the burden on workers to maintain appropriate distances as part of new safety practices that very well could become the next normal.”
The Proximity Trace devices are worn on the body and emit a progressively louder alarm when the wearers are too close to one another. This is designed to enable them to focus on their work, rather than worrying about their proximity to another worker or potential exposure to the virus. The alarm can also serve to change behaviors by reminding workers to practice safe physical distancing.
What’s more, in the event that there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a location, users reportedly can conduct contact tracing using historical data captured passively by the worker’s device to identify who may have been exposed. With more reliable information, companies can decide who needs to be in mandatory or precautionary quarantine per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, and whether the site can continue to operate safely without the need to shut down the entire operation.
“Worker safety is our top priority, so we were thrilled to hear that our technology partner Triax developed a solution to address the social distancing and contact tracing problems the industry is facing during COVID-19,” said Jason Pelkey, SVP, CIO, Gilbane Building Company. “We’re rolling this out at our active sites and we’re excited about the role it could play in keeping workers safer at those sites as well as non-essential sites as we begin returning those to full operational status in the months to come.”
To learn about all sorts of IoT innovations, join us at next year’s IoT Evolution Expo 2021: It’s Time to Grow, taking place in Miami in February. Call for papers now open.
Ken Briodagh is a storyteller, writer and editor with about two decades of experience under his belt. He is in love with technology and if he had his druthers would beta test everything from shoe phones to flying cars.Edited by
Ken Briodagh
