Why It's Time for Wearable Tech & What That Means for Your Employees

As the world continues to deal with the unsettling and unprecedented reality of COVID-19, many of us are already wondering how this experience will change the way we operate in the future. Most businesses will likely have to adapt to a “new normal” once we finally move past this global pandemic. For now, we can take a step back and evaluate the ways we do business and manage events. Many Finance, Banking and Consulting firms are considering wearables and symptom reporting tools to manage the spread and keep employees safe.

Wearables and Contactless Tech

Wearables have become an increasingly popular solution for helping businesses get back on track amid the COVID-19 climate. Wearables are a reliable tool to enforce social distancing. By using visible cues when placed directly on someone’s person, they help people immediately recognize when they’ve entered too close of a distance to someone else. 

Wearables also help businesses contact trace by putting the data right in their hands. By having employees simply slip on a badge or sensor, business leaders receive data captured by these devices that map traffic flow to see who came into contact with whom, when and for how long. Both of these applications are key to keeping work environments as safe as possible for employees and customers as businesses re-open.

Using the information collected by wearables, they can determine which locations or areas within their office spaces or facilities have had the most exposure to anyone that tests positive or is showing symptoms. In doing so, employers can take the necessary steps to limit traffic or modify their cleaning procedures in real-time. 

In fact, according to a recent survey, 54% of employees worry about COVID-19 exposure while on-the-job. Taking this a step further, in a Harvard Business Review study, they found that of all of the things employees want from their employers to make them feel safe on-site, the number one thing—to the tune of 55%—is extensively cleaning and sanitizing work areas. In a time when anxiety and concerns are high, wearables can help businesses put additional and better practices in place that will make employees feel more at ease. 

That’s not to say all wearables will achieve this desired effect. As we explored in a recent blog post, many wearable options rely on WiFi, RFID or GPS for tracking, which come with inherent risk and a high probability of inaccurate readings.

At Proxfinity, we developed our smart badge to signal device-to-device as they come in close proximity to one another, meaning greater accuracy. Wearables have the ability to help businesses in a myriad of ways to not only keep employees safe but also maintain realistic and consistent operations. Interested in learning more?