A dozen
Ford Motor Co. workers are experimenting with wearable social-distancing devices that could be deployed more widely once the carmaker
reopens idled manufacturing plants.
The small group of volunteers at a Ford factory in Plymouth, Michigan, are trying out watch-like wearables that vibrate when employees come within six feet of each other, said Kelli Felker, a company spokeswoman. The aim is to keep workers from breaching the distance that health experts recommend to avoid spreading the coronavirus.
The social-distancing device could be part of a broader array of new safety protocols Ford deploys as it
resumes production as early as
next month after at least a roughly six-week
shutdown. The automaker is also expected to subject all workers entering a facility to a thermal-imaging scan to detect a fever. And it will provide staff with masks and, in some cases, plastic face shields, Felker said. The company is devising the measures along with the United Auto Workers union.
The
Samsung Electronics Co. smartwatches Ford is piloting use software from closely held technology firm
Radiant RFID, according to a spokesman for the Austin, Texas-based company. The devices utilize Bluetooth short-wave and low-power technology to detect proximity and clustering of workers.
In near real-time, workers receive a vibration and a color-coded warning on the watch to let them know when they are closer than six feet to another person. Supervisors also receive alerts and reports that can be used to monitor social distancing and clustering in the workplace, according to Radiant.
Ford Tests Buzzing Wristbands to Keep Workers at Safe Distances
Was on 60 Minutes tonight
