Pub’s hi-tech way to keep virus out
WELL-known Derby pub has installed a machine at the door which can read customer’s temperature in seconds to tell them whether they may have coronavirus symptoms.
The machine, made by IT company RDS, not only reads a customer’s temperature before they walk in the door, it also takes a picture and provides a squirt of hand sanitiser.
The White Swan pub, in Littleover, is the first in the East Midlands to install the Sanitiser Screening Unit which has been up and running since Thursday, when the venue reopened.
Pub landlord Brendan Donohue said that if a customer has a high temperature reading on entry, an “alert system” will be activated in the pub and the person will not be allowed in.
That individual will then be required to go home to isolate for two weeks as per Government guidelines. However, Mr Donohue said it was not “the pub’s place to enforce” that.
He added: “We are trialling it with some staff members, they have all had a go on it and I’ve had a go on it.
“It takes your picture so that next time you come in it recognises you again, it’s an easier way to do it and saves using lots of paper and with this, we have names and how many times customers came in the pub.”
Mr Donohue said the information is stored on his computer in the pub so that information can be sent to track and trace services if required.
For those who are concerned about data privacy, Mr Donohue said: “All we are saying to those people is if they don’t want to us to log their details that’s fine, but we just ask them to take the temperature.
“It just gives us the assurance that they will all be tested before coming in the pub.
“I’m sure that customers and regulars will feel more safe knowing that we are doing it this way.”
Phil Harvey, managing director for RDS Global, said the units have been designed around the compaA ny’s existing Blackbox reporting technologies. He said: “The system can provide real-time reporting on not only the temperature but who has or has not used the sanitiser for staff and customers, which is ideal for track and trace reporting, whilst also maintaining GDPR compliance if used alongside supplied compliance process documents.” The White Swan is not the only venue to have installed one of these machines. According to Mr Harvey, Quad and the Cathedral also have machines in use as of this week.
I’m sure that customers and regulars will feel more safe knowing that we are doing it.
Brendan Donohue