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With workers heading back to the office after the forced shut-down period it is vitally important workplaces stay safe and healthy.
Even before COVID-19, workplace absenteeism cost the economy about $7 billion per year while workplace presenteeism - where employees cannot fully function at work due to illness - costs about $34 billion annually.
To counter the risks Workplace Medicine Australia has partnered with ADG Engineers to develop a digital screening and medical consultation platform to test, assess, diagnose and care for employees to mitigate a second-wave outbreak of COVID-19.
WMA medical director Dr Scott Allison said presenting at work ill, or taking time off work while unwell, had a multi-billion-dollar effect on the economy at the best of times.
"The introduction of COVID-19, on top of the usual cold and flu type sickness we see in the workplace, puts businesses and the Australian economy at even greater risk," she said.
"Australia has seen multiple cases of employees entering the workplace while infected with COVID-19, forcing entire organisations and buildings to quarantine employees and close down for extended periods."
Allison said it was crucial businesses had streamlined processes to identify possible cases of COVID-19 and other respiratory tract illnesses so workers could be isolated and cared for with minimal disruption to productivity.
"Our platform uses confidential and secure thermal body scanning technology to detect and support employees who present in the workplace with a fever or possible respiratory tract infection, therefore identifying early signs of major health concerns such as COVID-19 or influenza," she said.
"Employees that have been identified as being at risk of infection receive an immediate, private video consultation with a doctor, who will arrange testing and further action as appropriate."
