Hard hat-mounted device promotes social distancing, contact tracing

Sources: Triax Technologies, Norwalk, Conn.; CP staff

A new Internet of Things-styled wearable device provides distancing alerts and contact tracing capability for construction, heavy industrial and manufacturing workers. Triax Technologies’ Proximity Trace offers added workplace protection during the Covid-19 pandemic, developers note, and helps companies get crews back to work safely while addressing recommended social distancing practices.

Affixed to a hard hat or lanyard, the device emits a progressively louder alarm when workers are too close to each other. It enables them to focus on tasks rather than worrying about proximity to co-workers or potential virus exposure. The alarm can also serve to change behaviors by reminding users to practice safe distancing. In the event of a confirmed Covid-19 case, an employer can conduct cloud-enabled contact tracing using historical data captured passively by a worker’s device to gauge who may have been exposed. 

“We’re rolling this out at our active sites and excited about the role it could play in keeping workers safer,” says Jason Pelkey, senior vice president at Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co., an early Proximity Trace user.   

“We leveraged our experience in IoT technology and workforce safety monitoring to address companies’ urgent needs for workers to maintain appropriate distances, to perform historical contact tracing for any employee testing positive for the virus, and to assist companies in getting their workforce back on the job as they implement new safety protocols,” adds Triax CEO Robert Costantini. “Our solution is designed to ease the burden on workers to maintain appropriate distances as part of new safety practices that very well could become the next normal.” — www.triaxtec.com