COVID-19 Workplace Safety and Digital Contact Tracing (2020)
In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies across New Zealand and Australia faced the urgent task of protecting employees, contractors, and visitors. Health and safety measures became essential to reduce the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, from strict cleaning protocols and physical distancing to workplace-specific safety standards. Businesses united in the fight against COVID-19.
Timecloud’s Digital Contact Tracing Solution
Timecloud was proud to introduce our digital contact tracing tool in 2020. This solution helped organisations efficiently track and manage attendance for employees, contractors, and visitors, ensuring rapid, accurate tracing if exposure occurred. Our software provided an easy way to gather required health and safety data while meeting Ministry of Health and WorkSafe NZ requirements.
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Capturing Pre-Work Health Checks
To create a single source of truth for COVID-19 safety:
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Determine when and how health checks will be captured.
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Assign responsibility for data collection and oversight.
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Implement reliable reporting systems.
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Communicate your plan to all staff before they return on site.
Pre-work checks could include personal health status, bubble-related information, and other safety data. This ensured early detection and quick action if a confirmed or suspected case arose.
Onsite Record Keeping
All onsite records for employees, contractors and visitors needed to be easily accessible and securely stored for at least two months, as per WorkSafe NZ guidance. Training or re-induction for returning staff was often necessary to refresh knowledge of health and safety and contact tracing protocols. Location tracking within the workplace helped identify exactly where individuals had been.
Key Health and Safety Questions
Businesses needed to plan for:
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How social distancing would be managed during arrivals, work hours, breaks, and departures.
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Cleaning and hygiene schedules.
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Machinery inspections or maintenance.
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Adequate PPE supply for all roles requiring it.
Distancing and Hygiene Tips
Create ‘bubbles within bubbles’:
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Smaller work teams and designated zones.
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2 metres for uncontrolled interactions, 1 metre for controlled (with records).
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Break rooms: one in, one out, or 2m rule.
Daily Briefings:
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Discuss physical distancing and hygiene daily.
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Involve staff in health and safety decisions.
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Review Ministry of Health guidelines weekly.
Record-Keeping Requirements
WorkSafe NZ recommended keeping a register of all workers and visitors entering or leaving the workplace, including:
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Full legal name
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Contact number
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Postal address (for workers) or company name (for visitors)
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Reason for visit
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Duration of stay
Lowering the Transmission Rate
As Keith Woodford noted in 2020, success meant reducing the average transmission rate so each infected person infected fewer than one other. This required:
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Maintaining 2 metres’ distance where possible
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Frequent handwashing
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Staying home if unwell
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Calling the COVID-19 hotline for symptoms
COVID-19 spreads quickly via droplets or contaminated surfaces. Without fast action, it could severely impact operations and community safety. Effective contact tracing allowed rapid response, limiting further spread.
Why Fast Action Mattered
If exposure occurred in a workplace, immediate and accurate tracing of staff, visitors, and contractors was essential. Timecloud’s digital attendance records gave businesses the information they needed to protect people and keep operating safely.
Together, individuals, companies, and communities worked not just to flatten the curve, but to #SquashTheCurve.
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