Sydney-based Humanforce, a provider of smart workforce management solutions, has come up with a platform for managing and communicating vaccine policies for organisations.

WHAT IT DOES

The automated workforce management solution allows employers to create custom vaccine requirements that are automatically communicated to their employees. The system also allows the upload and collection of vaccination proofs and provides a single view of employees' vaccination statuses. 

Moreover, this solution supports contact tracing reporting among employees and help employers to navigate and manage a number of leave types, including pandemic leaves. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Many Australian casual workers said they are concerned about their health when physically reporting for work during the pandemic. A recent Humanforce survey revealed that almost eight in 10 workers said they prefer working in a workplace where their colleagues are vaccinated.

As more organisations across the country are considering mandating COVID-19 vaccination amid outbreaks, employers face the challenge of introducing vaccination policies, especially in effectively communicating, enforcing and tracking these policies with their employees.

"An automated workforce management solution can help to streamline this process and ensure compliance, which is very important when dealing with such a high priority health issue affecting the safety of the entire workplace and wider community," Humanforce CEO Clayton Pyne said. 

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Corporate health offerings around COVID-19 have sprung up recently to usher in the safe reopening of businesses. 

In the UK, corporate health metrics and tracking systems provider Well.Me introduced in December a set of solutions to support COVID-19 track and trace and vaccine rollout monitoring within workplaces.

Across the pond, Boston-based Buoy Health launched in February a tool that helps employers design educational strategies around vaccination and gauge their employees' interests in getting inoculated. The said tool can also be used to communicate vaccine information to avoid hesitancy and misinformation. 

Two months later, another US-based firm, Eden Health, expanded its COVID-19 workplace offerings to include opt-in vaccine record sharing. Aside from this, the company has launched other COVID-19-related tools for employers, such as daily symptom screening and at-home and onsite COVID-19 testing.

ON THE RECORD

"As Australian businesses have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns and have needed to ensure the safety of employees and customers, encouraging, and in some cases, mandating vaccines in the workplace is being increasingly discussed. In fact, we're already seeing vaccination mandates being enacted in high-risk settings like residential aged care and even private enterprises like Qantas, Virgin and food producer SPC," Pyne said.

"Given there is a strong desire amongst casual workers to complete their shifts in safe environments where those around them are vaccinated, the onus is on employers to formulate and communicate clear vaccination policies for the future," he added.