CHAS helps construction industry get 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.

CHAS’s solution is the CHAS People Health Wallet, an extension to the established CHAS People 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 their 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 with a QR code, which they can email or show to employers or clients, which when followed, will confirm the verified position of the worker but will not disclose any personal information. Employees also receive an automatic weekly alert prompting them to update their declaration and record any new symptoms to ensure ongoing compliance.

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.

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 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. And it is confidential and cost-effective.

Ian McKinnon, CHAS managing director, comments: “Many industries want to get back to work but the right controls need to be in place to protect workers and businesses and, 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 so we can help accelerate the UK’s safe transition back to work.”

Find out more at: www.chas.co.uk or call 020 8545 3838.