With a second spike in Covid-19 infection rates looking increasingly likely, online retail fulfillment services specialist, Walker Logistics, is aiming to keep its 250,000 sq ft multi-user warehouses and head office facility in Berkshire a Coronavirus-free zone with the introduction of its own in-house developed track and trace system.
Now, when temporary or permanent staff or, indeed, visitors to Walker’s premises arrive on site they are required to use their smart phone to scan a QR code which links directly to a short survey. Everybody entering the building is asked to provide information such as their name and contact details, the area of the site where they will be working or visiting and details of any recent overseas trips they have undertaken. They will also have their temperature monitored before being granted access. For any workers or visitors not in possession of smart phone technology a paper-based version of the same survey is provided.
Walker’s warehouse manager, Wayne Petrie, along with the company’s head of IT, Andrew Dixon, designed the system.
Wayne Petrie says: “Our track and trace system is a simple way of recording the movements of people potentially infected with Covid-19 on our site. It allows us to see where an individual has been while on the premises and gives an indication of whom they may have been in contact with. It will enable us to alert those who could have come into contact with an infectious person to isolate or seek medical attention.”
Since the start of the pandemic Walker Logistics has taken stringent measures to protect staff. These include spacing all workstations, splitting breaks, providing outside seating areas, offering to subsidise lifts to and from work to minimise car sharing and having large stocks of hygiene items such as wipes, gels, masks and gloves available across its buildings.
Charlie Walker, head of marketing at Walker Logistics, comments: “The well-being of our staff is of paramount importance. People are understandably anxious about the virus but we hope that our track and trace system – along with the other safety measures we have had in place for some time – will help us to keep our facilities Covid-free and reassure our staff that their workplace is a safe place to be.”
