Construction workers to wear wristbands that vibrate when they break two-metre distancing rule
CONSTRUCTION workers are being issued with wristbands which buzz when they get within two metres of a colleague as bosses try to enforce social distancing on building sites.
Civil engineering firm Keltbray is one of the first to be trialling a new system for monitoring workers’ movements.
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It is using technology developed by Edinburgh-based company Reactec, which has built a new system called Safedistance.
Workers are given a device to wear on their wrist which uses bluetooth technology to detect others.
It alerts them by vibrating or making a noise if they are within two metres of someone else.
It also feeds back data to employers to show them how often social distancing measures are breached.
Reactec said the system could also help with tracing people who had been close to workers who subsequently show coronavirus symptoms.
The government has advised that workers on building sites should maintain two metre social distancing "wherever possible", including while arriving at and leaving work, when they are in work, and when travelling between sites.
Paul Deacy, managing director, demolitions and civils at Keltbray, said he was “encouraged” by the technology’s potential.
“This could truly assist us in managing social distancing across our projects,” he added.
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A number of other “leading companies within the construction and rail sector” are also trialling the technology, Reactec said.
It has already been in discussion with the Scottish Government about the technology.
Similarly, workers building the new NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham have been using detection tags which can be worn on a hard hat, attached to a belt or strapped to the upper arm to help with social distancing.
Interserve Construction, the company working on the site, has given some workers the alarms which are triggered if workers get too close.
The firm said using the technology, which was developed by SiteZone Safety, helps to “raise spatial awareness and affect behavioural change on site”.
But unions warned that such devices should not be used as a reason to punish people.
Jerry Swain, Unite's national officer for construction, said: "This could be a useful initiative depending on how it is used and a trial use may be beneficial.
"There must be clear safeguards for individual privacy and the device must not be used in anyway for disciplinary purposes.
"Unite would expect to be fully consulted before it was introduced on any site where the union is recognised and the benefits and any problems related to the device fully assessed."
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Boris Johnson has urged people to go back to work if they can't work from home.
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But workplaces will have to change to make sure people can be kept safe.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced today that the Government's furlough scheme has been extended until October.