CHAS helps construction industry go back to work with COVID-19 Health Wallet

A major challenge associated with the COVID-19 outbreak is the question of how to ensure the nation can work safely, whether that applies to key workers or the wider workforce. According to the hierarchy of risk control, it's preferable to eliminate and reduce a risk before resorting to protective measures so, while social distancing offers some protection, it shouldn’t be the first line of defence.

Having the knowledge of a workers’ physical health before they enter a site allows better control of the risk in accordance with risk assessment Best Practice.

Passports in the form of return-to-work certification for individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 are an option put forward by scientists and politicians. However, keeping track of workers’ health in relation to COVID-19 poses a significant challenge with the process open to fraud and misuse.

People Health Wallet

CHAS’ solution is the CHAS People Health Wallet, an extension to the established worker verification platform that can be used to track a worker’s fitness to work and enable employees to be fast-tracked back to work.

The process is simple. Once an employee has uploaded their ID documents and they have been verified via CHAS People, using a Government-confirmed 12 point biometric check and tamper detection technology, they then complete a short declaration to confirm they are not experiencing any symptoms. The third and final stage is where the individual uploads their COVID-19 antigen or antibody test results via a Government-approved evidence/certification process. This phase will only be possible when Government has endorsed the standards that will apply.

Results are displayed on a web portal which workers can use to keep their health status up-to-date and to confirm it with others. Employees also receive an automatic weekly alert prompting them to update their declaration and record any new symptoms to ensure ongoing compliance.

The worker will be provided with a virtual ID card complete with a QR code, which they can then e-mail or show to employers or clients. When followed, this will confirm the verified position of the worker, but will not disclose any personal information.

The CHAS People Health Wallet constitutes a user friendly hands-off approach to managing worker health risk and by enabling employers to discharge their duty of requirements to their employees it simplifies and speeds up the process of getting people back to work while ensuring continued compliance under The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Business Closure) (England) Regulations 2020.

Duty of Care

The CHAS People Health Wallet helps both clients and contractors to demonstrate a Duty of Care to their supplier base and employees. It also provides clients specifying the system with a top-level overview of all contractors who have signed up to the system, duly highlighting where workers haven’t started or completed the process. Real data on each individual allows for immediate status change notification and provides insight on the potential impact to the organisational capacity and skills matrix.

For contractors, the CHAS People Health Wallet also supports the management of risk assessment around COVID-19 with report data easily exported to demonstrate compliance to clients. The whole process is confidential and cost-effective.

Ian McKinnon, managing director at CHAS, informed Security Matters: “Many industries want to go back to work, but the right controls need to be in place to protect workers and businesses. Within the construction sector there is demand for a standardised approach to this issue. The CHAS People Health Wallet is an answer, using proven technology to enable quick and efficient verification and monitoring of a worker’s fitness to work. What’s more, it’s ready to go and we are making it cheaply available, and even free in some cases, such that we can help accelerate the UK’s safe transition back to work.”

*For further information visit www.chas.co.uk