An Irish firm has created a system to alert employees when they get too close to each other.
Clonmel-based Vision ID says the product is designed to help workers manage social distancing.
Kenneth Arthur, chief commercial officer, told Breakfast Business: "What we wanted to do here, many offices are preparing to re-open in August/September time, we wanted to help ensure social distancing in the workplace.
"We do this through an audible or vibrating alert on a lanyard or wristband, and that's there to give peace of mind to employees as they return to the office.
"What it also allows is for digital, seamless contact tracing to meet all Government requirements, and minimise any disruption to the workplace in the event an employee shows symptoms.
Image: Vision ID"So rather than having to shut down an office or shut down site, we can capture exactly the amount of people that potentially would have interacted for a meaningful time with the people who may be showing symptoms."
"If you're just passing someone in the corridor, that interaction isn't captured and it doesn't give you any alert".
He said these will give "very precise" measurements.
"What we are seeing on a 16 hour shift, is we are seeing accuracy of around 10cms, which would be the average length of a ballpoint pen".
Image: Vision IDDetails of the employees is stored in realtime on a server with a coded name, in line with GDPR regulations.
"We don't capture any personal data - we'll work with their HR department so we assign an employee ID to the tag.
"That's all that we store or we recommend that is stored on the server - and that can be either stored on premises or we can provide a hosted service".
On costing, he said the company is looking at between €130 to €150 for the lanyard including software.
Training, support and a hosting service could see costs work out at around €3 per employee per week under a subscription or op ex model.
