New solutions from Siemens to maintain Social Distancing and detect symptoms of COVID-19
The global pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in the first half of 2020 has had an unprecedented impact on the worldwide industry, forcing businesses of all kinds to quickly adapt to new working environments, if not close entirely. As the spread of the virus begins to slow, a new challenge falls to businesses to ensure the safety of their employees as they return to work, and those who have continued to work throughout the peak of the pandemic, without losing efficiency in business operations.
When looking at the most important factors in restoring workplace operations, four areas stand out as priorities to consider:
Employee Safety – How can we help employees maintain social distancing? Can we spot signs of illness before staff enter the premises? Can we measure the safety impact if any of our workers fell ill?- Restarting Production – How can we optimise our production line while prioritising safety? Can we identify ways to modify shift change procedures?
- Managing Costs – How can we avoid additional shutdowns and lost production? Can we reduce our cleaning and disinfecting costs?
- Future-Proofing – Can we achieve a solution that helps our business over the long-term period? Will we be able to contribute towards national COVID-19 recovery?
Our partners at Siemens have developed two solutions in response to these workplace issues. We believe both of these solutions will help businesses around the world to ensure maximum safety and make a meaningful contribution on the path to recovery.
| RTLS (Real Time Locating System) for Social Distancing |
Using SIMATIC RTLS (Real Time Locating System) technology, Siemens have developed useful hardware and software to tackle these challenges head-on.
Workers can now wear an RTLS tag with a small display that will blink and change the information on display when the holder draws too near to another worker. This is calculated using the Social Distancing Algorithm, used to accurately determine a 2 metre gap between workers. One such example of an RTLS tag from Siemens is the RTLS4083T​.
Behind this small piece of hardware is a world of visualisation software, which can be used to display the location of the workforce in real-time, but also keep a record of any social distancing violations. This information can be used to determine the health and safety impact in the event of a worker becoming ill, and ensure that the proper disinfection measures are carried out where it matters most, while offering necessary awareness to those who were within close proximity of the virus.
Usage of the SIMATIC RTLS system can not only be useful in containing COVID-19 and identifying hotspots where social distancing is broken more frequently, but also sets businesses up for the future. Should your business find a use for RTLS in production control, asset tracking and WIP, this one solution can set up any number of possibilities in the future, of course including any potential virus cases in the future.
| Advanced Temperature Detection to identify COVID-19 symptoms |
For a wider, long-term solution, Siemens Digital Introduced have introduced the Siveillance Thermal Shield, a system designed to deliver accurate thermal body temperature readings and analysis on a person-by-person basis.
Siveillance Thermal Shield technology offers quick and easy screening of people who enter the workplace, in accordance with social distancing rules and GDPR compliance. A specialist thermal camera is provided as a core part of the kit, which analyses elevated body temperature, and catches signs of potential illness before entry to the workplace. This not only gives necessary awareness to the worker displaying an increased body temperature, but also protects the rest of the workforce from coming into contact with those who potentially harbour transferable illnesses.
We provide a top-of-the-range Siveillance Thermal Shield package to help ensure the safety of your workforce. The key features include:
Complete solution with long-term benefits- Highest thermal resolution
- Highly accurate readings
- Video Management & Access Control integration
- Stable deployment across the business
- Centralise inputs from multiple cameras
- Enables workflows with security systems
- Package built to suit your individual needs
To fully customise your Siveillance Thermal Shield package to best suit the needs of your workplace, speak with us and we’ll be happy to go through everything you’ll need during the COVID-19 recovery period and beyond.
| Speak with our Team |
If you want to keep your employees safe and ensure an optimal return-to-work process, speak to our team to arrange an online meeting, and ask us anything you need to know about RTLS technology or the Siveillance Thermal Shield.