Triax Releases Hard Hat Tags to Monitor Social Distancing and Contact Trace Amid COVID-19

Many construction sites are open after nationwide shelter-in-place orders slowed the industry due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, but it’s still not business as usual.  Social distancing efforts still need to be in place, but that can be hard to manage.  I have heard stories of at least a few construction site shut downs after a positive test from a worker, causing everyone on site to need to get tested, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could monitor who that person came into contact with?

Triax Technologies, a wearable technology platform, has recently released hard hat tags that can not only monitor who employees come into contact with, but also alert workers if they are within 6 feet of each other. If the TraceTag, as it’s called, senses workers within 6 feet of each other, it can react with a visual and audible alarm until corrected, if that optional feature is added.

Some close contact work is allowed under safety regulations, such as team lifting, to reduce physical injury hazards, so the alarms can be temporarily silenced in those circumstances.

In order to collect the data of worker interactions, “Gateways” are placed at exits and other high traffic areas.  If workers are not close to a Gateway, the information will be temporarily stored within the TraceTag until it can be uploaded when it gains connectivity. All data is collected passively, so neither the on-site workers nor office staff have to manually input any of the data, but they’ll have it at their fingertips if a confirmed COVID-19 case arises on-site.

Triax is calling their full contact tracing and social distancing technology, Proximity Trace, and you can check out how it works in the video below. (Ignore the fact the workers are hammering on a wall for no reason, with the pandemic it is extremely hard to be permitted to get on any real jobsite as a guest.)

---