Smart Buildings: Using IoT to Safeguard the Workplace

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a complete re-evaluation of our physical  spaces , including the workplace with smart buildings and smart factories .   E mployees and consumers  won’t set foot in facilities they don’t believe to be safe. Going forward, enterprises must take unprecedented measures  for  both  safety and  privacy . Fortunately,  IoT  technology is there to make it happen.  
Smart Buildings in the Age of a Pandemic 
For the foreseeable future, humanity-driven health practices will be essential in daily work/life routines, crucial components in combatting not just COVID-19 but other potential infectious outbreaks. Businesses are devising prevention strategies that are necessarily infused with tech-driven solutions. Going forward, enterprises will require previously unimaginable real-time information about anyone entering and occupying their facilities — and must gather this data without compromising privacy.    
This not only provides the needed insights to minimize potential health risk when entering and operating in a building or space. It also resolves uncertainty or anxiety by visualizing “digital and physical awareness” that an environment is being monitored and managed at the top-most environmental health and safety levels.    

Measurable Actions Businesses Must Take to Re-Open    

Here are some of the challenges faced by businesses  when re-opening , as well as technologies that can address those challenges:  

Physical distance tracking.   In facilities ranging from retail stores to office buildings to recreation areas, it is and will remain necessary to gauge both the distance between individuals and overall occupancy density. Cameras — including millions of existing ones — will play a key role, coupled with data-stream analytics. Solutions will generate reports and insights, keeping management up to speed on the effectiveness of the company’s “physical” distance practice, while also identifying deviations and their root cause. Occupancy density solutions can be scaled up to  open spaces, making it feasible to monitor the effectiveness of physical distancing enforcement and mitigate dangerously dense crowds through automated announcements and other measures.    

Human temperature tracking.   With fever being a common COVID-19 symptom, there is new emphasis on measuring body temperatures. While  Nemaura , Google’s Verily   and others  have developed   body-worn temperature patches capable of transmitting data, many organizations will opt to place measurement technology at facility entrances in order to detect potential entrants who may carry risk. Footfall sensors would detect approaching people; thermal scanners would then send an image to security personnel, who would intercept risks — perhaps escorting them to a virus-testing booth for further evaluation. As with...