Touchless Technology Is the Future of Workplace Safety
The pandemic pushed employees to work from home for their safety. But these past few months, employees are starting to return to their office buildings.
For things to get back to normal, employers must do their best to keep their facilities clean and safe. The novel coronavirus can be transmitted through touch. If a person touches an infected surface and then touches their nose, mouth, or eyes, they can contract the disease. And in a workplace, people touch many surfaces frequently: doorknobs, elevator buttons, light switches, handrails, and others.
Thus, in a pandemic and even after, touchless technology will play a crucial role in keeping workplaces safe.
Investing in Touchless Technology
While employees work from home, business owners still need to pay for rent or commercial mortgages even though the offices are empty. Some employees still find that they can work optimally if they come to a workplace versus working from home.
Thus, employers and office building owners must invest in touchless technology. It will keep workplaces safe. And it will also assure employees to work in offices again. Plus, with the world becoming more careful due to the pandemic, touchless technology will likely be part of the new standard of a workplace.
Here are some forms of touchless technology that should be implemented in workplaces:
Automatic Doors
One of the things that employees touch most frequently is a door handle or a doorknob. And it’s quite dangerous. One study found that viruses from a single doorknob can spread to 40 to 60 percent of surfaces and people in a few hours. Thus, touchless door entry is important in a workplace. Using automatic doors will prevent the need to touch any surface to enter a room or a building.
Touchless Access Control
Automatic doors may present a security issue. For instance, most automatic doors use motion sensors. A single movement near the sensor will prompt the door to open. This means basically anyone can open the door. Thus, in many offices, one must enter their biometric data to unlock a door. The most commonly used identifier is a fingerprint. But a fingerprint scanner means employees will have to touch a surface to enter a building, which needs to be lessened.
These issues can be addressed using touchless access controls. Someone must use a certain device to unlock a door. This device may be one’s office ID with an RFID chip. Another option is a smartphone. Some employees tend to forget their ID badges at home. Meanwhile, smartphones are intimate possessions that a person will always carry no matter where they go.
Hands-free Attendance Systems
As mentioned earlier, one common touchpoint for employees is a biometric scanner. This is important due to attendance, but there are many alternatives that employers can implement to create a safer office environment.
For example, employers can use an online time and attendance system. When they get to the office, the employee will register their login time in the system and their logout time before going home. This is also convenient for HR employees since they can easily track employee attendance through the system.
Another alternative is a facial recognition system. This technology is fast and reliable. It also adds another layer of security to prevent malicious parties from entering an office.
Touchless Dispensers
To clean their hands, employees will need to touch soap and hand sanitizer dispensers. After, they will also touch a tissue dispenser to dry their hands. These touchpoints defeat the purpose of handwashing since a person will still have to touch a surface after cleaning their hands.
Thus, businesses need to use touchless dispensers. These can also help businesses save money in the long run because automatic dispensers can prevent wasteful use of resources.
Touchless Guest Sign-ins
Visitors come to offices for many reasons, such as appointments and interviews. This puts a lot of burden on front desk staff since they’re the ones who entertain these visitors. Thus, touchless technology should also be implemented at the front desk.
Companies can use an online booking system. Visitors need to book an appointment a few days in advance. Companies can also utilize QR codes to help visitors sign-in. For example, after successfully booking an appointment, a visitor will receive a QR code that they will use to enter an office.
Moving forward, touchless technology will become an important element in any workplace. This technology can be implemented in many ways and will not just keep employees safe. The technology can also make employees more productive given the time that can be saved in using touchless mechanisms.