Workplace Health Surveillance Tool Launched in South Africa

As more South Africans return to work in May, workplaces are re-designing to combat COVID-19 infection, while simultaneously reassuring workers are the new priority.

Fortunately, South African innovation is rising to the challenge of reimagining shared workspaces in the COVID-19 era and a timely example of this is HealthID.

Launched this week by a group of Cape Town-based entrepreneurs, HealthID helps employers comply with new government regulations that stipulate they should not only screen employees for signs of COVID-19 infection, but they must specifically create and maintain a database outlining the health status of individual workers.

“It’s doubtful any reputable employer would want to incur the wrath of the Department of Labour inspectors by recording something as serious as COVID-19 employee data in a paper book at reception. In these unprecedented times, that type of slapdash approach is unforgivable,” says HealthID spokesperson, Evangelis Hatzipolychronis.

Anything other than a contactless approach to recording COVID-19 employee data in access areas is slow and cumbersome and will breach social distancing guidelines by creating bottlenecks at entrance points.

Hatzipolychronis explains that HealthID helps SMEs and corporates alike stay on the right side of COVID-19 workplace compliance by creating digital, realtime health registers that include complete health audit trails for entire workforces. This boosts confidence in employers and helps location-bound workers feel secure in their work environments.

COVID-Compliant Workplaces – The New Priority

“It’s important for employers to demonstrate to all external and internal stakeholders that they are taking proactive steps rooted in the most up-to-date technologies to beat the greatest threat thus far to a whole generation of South Africans,” says Hatzipolychronis.

He adds that this new contactless health surveillance tool is both low cost and secure and also provides employers with a verifiable third party tool that confirms government-mandated protocols are being properly implemented.

Various local news platforms have reported that over 2300 inspections have already taken place to determine if SA employers are both screening and recording data relevant to the presence of COVID-19 in the workplace.

For maximum effect, HealthID is paired in the workplace with the recently-launched 4ORT solution. In 2019, 4ORT became the world’s first ‘fraud-free’ dynamic QR (Quick Response) code to be used for watertight access control, digital ticketing, loyalty programmes and many other applications dependent on the secure encryption of personal identity within controlled environments.

The user’s digital identity is securely hidden within the 4ORT QR code and cannot be copied, photographed or videoed to subvert the COVID-19 screening process.

Now, HealthID adds an up-to-the-minute digital database element applicable to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve taken the challenge of creating secure workplaces and come up with a practical solution to get South Africa back to work, confidently,” Hatzipolychronis concludes.

Edited by Luis Monzon

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