In September, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration was tasked to develop a rule that requires private sector businesses with 100 or more employees to ensure their workers are either vaccinated or have produced a negative COVID test weekly.
The rule is expected to be issued this fall, and employers likely will have 50 to 90 days to comply, according to Reuters. Failure to abide by the rule could result in a fine of $14,000 per violation, the news agency reported.
Even before this rule goes into effect, it is triggering a cascade of issues for employers — from how to communicate new policies to employees to how to enforce them across their organizations. Central among these tasks will be how to manage records for employees who are vaccinated and document when others last tested negative to determine when new testing is required.
Enter: Spot-r
Our Spot-r solutions work with either our Spot-r clips, an Internet of Things-enabled sensor that workers wear on their belts, or RFID cards. The clips or cards act as a worker’s badge and, through the Spot-r dashboard, carry critical information about the worker, including their certifications, training and, in the case of these new mandates, can manage vaccine documents or testing information.
The clips or cards communicate with a check-in box located at an access point or communicate directly with the network for sites using Spot-r Mesh. Users can set a variety of parameters for entry, including specific certifications that are required and which working hours individuals or categories of subcontractors can enter a site.
If a worker attempts to enter the site without the right certifications or during off hours, the system takes action. It can prevent a turnstile from opening or trigger a flashing red light at the entry point. Supervisors also receive real-time notifications, so they can address any issues immediately.
To provide even more capabilities for our users, we recently expanded our partnership with EarthCam, the world-leading developer of construction camera technology. Now, high-resolution video from cameras installed at turnstiles and entry points can be quickly pulled up within the Spot-r dashboard to ensure that RFID cards or Spot-r clips are being worn by the individuals they’ve been assigned to.
Managing risk
For several years, our Spot-r Access and Spot-r Mesh solutions have been indispensable for construction sites in New York City where general contractors must comply with New York City’s Department of Buildings Local Law 196. The law requires companies to demonstrate that their workers have completed required site safety training. If they cannot, they risk fines as high as $5,000 per untrained worker. With these solutions, supervisors can instantly pull up which workers are on site and show proof of certifications.
In the same way, businesses seeking to comply with the planned federal mandates requiring either a COVID vaccine or a weekly negative test can use the Spot-r dashboard to store the appropriate data. For vaccinated workers, supervisors can quickly pull up who has received one or two doses of the vaccine, as required. For the unvaccinated, the system will store the results from the last COVID test, indicate how long it’s valid and notify supervisors, preventing entry, if a weekly test result hasn’t been logged in.
Bottom line, these solutions help mitigate risk for your sites while increasing overall worker safety. They dramatically decrease the amount of administrative oversight needed to manage all worker documents and help supervisors gain back hours of their work week to spend on other critical functions. Our Spot-r solutions ensure that the right people are on your work sites at the right time. And pulls together data that you can use to uncover new ways to bolster safety and improve efficiencies.
Wondering how you’ll comply with the new rules regarding COVID vaccines and tests? Contact us to learn more about how a connected worksite can help.
