An app for prevention

Calgary company develops employee software for food companies to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks

CALGARY — A Calgary-based company has developed software for essential food companies to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 among staff and the public by tracking daily digital logs of symptoms and exposure factors.

Basecase, created by Provision Analytics , a group specializing in streamlining data input from food companies and turning it into tangible business insights, allows employees to submit forms online through their smartphones or home computers before showing up to work to limit transmission of infection.

Fever, dry cough, abnormal fatigue are logged along with international travel or exposure to individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. Management will receive a notification while the employees will be categorized as per their symptoms, allowing for the monitoring of workers’ health.

With earlier detection, companies can prevent concentrated outbreaks of COVID-19 at specific facilities.

“When companies have hundreds or thousands of employees, it can be really hard to do the tracking manually to try and keep track of paper forms that are being submitted or on Excel spreadsheets,” said Provision Analytics spokesman Kevin Davies.

“What Basecase allows for is these companies that have a couple hundred or couple thousand staff to have good checks on their employees so they can be alerted of symptoms before anyone contaminates a facility or packaging or any member of the public.”

Employee health and safety at food companies is top of mind in the wake of the massive coronavirus outbreak at two of Alberta’s main beef processing plants.

Occupational Health and Safety is investigating 630 confirmed cases at the Cargill meat-packing plant in High River and 186 confirmed cases among employees of the JBS meat-packing plant in Brooks, along with one death at each. An employee of the Lilydale chicken processing plant in southeast Calgary also tested positive for COVID-19.

At these facilities, employees work assembly-line style, in proximity to each other, making physical distancing challenging.

Both Cargill and JBS say they have been implementing precautions such as temperature testing, enhanced cleaning and sanitizing, face coverings, screening between employee stations, prohibiting visitors, adopting distancing practises where possible and offering staggered breaks and shift flexibility.

Yet at some facilities, Davies noted, there are no tracking measures to monitor employees’ health, and workers were showing up with

COVID-19 symptoms.

“From what we’re hearing, some of these key meat facilities have less than 30 days of product in inventory,” Davies said “Facilities are shut down and not actively producing.

“So, you can really see how employee health is critical to our food supply and we think Basecase helps to address that.”

Lourdes Juan is the founder of Leftovers Foundation, which redistributes unsold food from participating businesses and delivers it to those in need. The organization signed on to Basecase as a way of keeping employees and volunteers — and the food they handle — safe.

“Any tool right now that can add that extra layer of safety during this crisis is going to be helpful,” she said. “From a food safety perspective, we have to make sure every step is taken.

“People are volunteering their time and the least we can do is make sure their safety is paramount every single time they come out and volunteer with us.”