Page 13 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Australian contact tracing technology
helps safeguard essential service workplaces
AS workplaces across food processing plants – sanitised with an alcohol for workplaces such as form helped workplaces
Victoria comply with Stage 4 COVID-19 re- strictions and implement their COVID safe plans, a simple wearable card is emerging as a potential game changer in high- risk workplaces, such as meat processing plants where employees are in close proximity to each other.
the contact tracing system records and logs card-to- card interactions within a defined facility.
wipe.
As the cards use low
meat processing plants – those essential service workplaces that need to safeguard staff to keep operations going.
safeguard staff and sped up contact tracing as needed, to keep people safe and businesses op- erating – even at reduced capacity.
It records when people wearing a Contact Harald card have been within close proximity of each other for set time limits.
energy Bluetooth, they also work under personal protective equipment and have a long battery life of between six to nine months.
Director of RMIT Cisco Health Transforma- tion Lab in Melbourne, and Professor of Innova- tion and Public Policy at RMIT University, Vishaal Kishore believes the Con- tact Harald technology has the potential to expe- dite the contact tracing process.
She said delays with testing could be assisted by faster tech-based con- tact tracing.
If an individual – such as a staff member, resident, inmate, cross-facility al- lied health professional, visitor or tradesperson – declares symptoms of COVID-19 or tests posi- tive, a button is pressed on their card to upload the stored interaction records.
The Australian tech- nology developed by Safedome – which has been fast-tracked through the RMIT University and Cisco System’s Health Transformation Lab in Melbourne – is now rolling out globally, and is being used in a range of businesses and workplace settings across the Asia Pacific region and the US.
Contact Harald’s main benefit is the inherent speed at which initial alerts can reach potential contacts, facilitating re- duced time to implement essential testing and ad- vise self-isolation.
Contact Harald card on a lanyard.
Contact Harald is a new Australian-developed card-to-card contact tracing technology, de- signed to automate and speed up contact tracing protocols for at-risk work- places.
The system then initi- ates an automated contact tracing event.
“This kind of tech- nology can provide facili- ties with an added line of defence to help manage the risks of becoming a COVID-19 hot spot,” Prof Kishore said.
“These simple Bluetooth enabled cards – backed by a user-friendly human- designed interface – offer an effective, fast contact tracing and isolation solu- tion that will help contain the virus,” Ms Reid said.
ns
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While masks and head- to-toe personal protec- tion equipment can help slow the spread – Con- tact Harald can speed up tracing and is designed to take the ‘manual’ out of manual contact tracing, and its rapid identification and isolation of recorded close contacts can stop further spread of COVID-19.
Only recorded close contacts receive auto- mated alerts and health management advice by SMS and email.
Matt Denton, an ex- Apple designer who co- founded Safedome, a fintech company that has been using proven track and trace Bluetooth tech- nology in the banking and travel industries for more than seven years, devel- oped the system.
“It’s ideal for those closed or what we call semi-permeable systems – knowing those short interactions can be very important over brief time- frames.”
“Requests for system trials have come from a range of sectors but we are noticing a consistent stream of requests from higher risk sectors such as abattoirs and aged care.
Designed for closed en- vironments – such as aged care facilities, prisons and
Lanyard and clip-on versions are available, which can be cleaned and
Efforts were accelerated in early 2020 once the impact of COVID-19 was realised.
“The system is being used globally and we have multiple systems being onboarded remotely across Victoria and NSW.
This allows the facility to implement outbreak management procedures swiftly to contain further spread.
Health technology ex- perts see automated con- tact tracing systems as a potential ‘game changer’
The team at the Health Transformation Lab has been assisting Safedome with the commercialisa- tion of the technology since mid-2019.
Restrictions ease
for Victorian abattoirs
On September 28, re- gional meat processing
“We’re very happy these restrictions have now been lifted.”
First appeared on abc. net.au
The data collected proved Contact Harald’s simple Bluetooth enabled card system – backed by a user-friendly human-de- signed interface – offered an effective, fast contact tracing and isolation solu- tion that delivered excel- lent results in the closed environments for which it was designed.
“Our team is happy to discuss specific op- erational needs but most businesses are opting for our standard product, finding the ease at which the system complies with the required high risk COVID safe plans a great advantage.
Safedome director of health and product Elissa Reid said the Contact Harald technology plat-
“Using Contact Harald, the meat processing sector will have access to a sector specific best prac- tice model,” she said.
For more information, visit ContactHarald.com
AUSTRALIAN PORK LIMITED
CONCISE NOTICE OF 2020 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Australian Pork Limited (ABN 83 092 783 278) (APL or the Company) will be held on Thursday 19 November 2020 commencing at 12.30pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time) online via australianpork.com.au/2020AGM
The business of the AGM will include:
• Financial statements and reports
• Auditors’ remuneration
• Election of Elected Directors
• Amendment of Constitution.
The complete Notice, AGM Agenda, Explanatory Notes, Meeting Procedures and 2019-2020 Annual Report will be available at australianpork.com.au no later than 21 October 2020 and can be posted to members on request.
As this will be a virtual AGM, we encourage members to review the Meeting Procedures carefully. A member entitled to attend and vote at this meeting is entitled to appoint a proxy, who need not be a member of the Company. Please refer to the Meeting Procedures for full details.
If you have any questions about this process, please contact APL’s ICT & Governance Steward, Nikki Watson, on nikki.watson@australianpork.com.au or 02 6270 8814.
MEATWORKS in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria have been able to in- crease workforce num- bers under the next step of the state’s roadmap to recovery from Monday September 28.
facilities were able to run at 90 percent capacity and in Melbourne, 80 percent of workers were able to return.
“About time,” Mr Hutch- inson said.
Last month, COVID-19 restrictions forced meat- works and distribution centres to move to two- thirds of peak production in a bid to avoid virus outbreaks.
Australian Meat In- dustry Council chief exec- utive Patrick Hutchinson welcomed the announce- ment but said the decision should have been made weeks ago.
“We had initial issues in metro Melbourne, but other than Colac causing some concerns, there have been no issues at all in processing facilities in re- gional Victoria.
All poultry processors across the state are able to operate at 90 percent capacity, with the Premier citing animal welfare con- cerns for farmed birds.
“As an industry, we have been clearly showing how we’ve been able to manage this virus.
Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Patrick Hutchinson said the Premier should have eased harsh restrictions on abattoirs weeks ago. Photo: Laurissa Smith
Australian Pork Newspaper, October 2020 – Page 13
www.porknews.com.au