Based in Garston, Liverpool UK, Penny Lane Builders (PLB) is a general building contractor who specialise in property development, refurbishment, repairs and maintenance for social housing clients throughout North West England. With a team of over 200 staff, PLB are currently subscribed to the Enterprise plan, and have rolled out SwipedOn across six of their worksites. We spoke to them about the challenges the company has faced in 2020 and how the SwipedOn sign in app has helped facilitate a COVID-secure workplace, whilst safeguarding the health and safety of their employees.

Prior to SwipedOn, PLB operated a manual timesheet process due to the varied staff categories across their operations. When COVID-19 hit, the need for a contactless sign in solution to manage site entry was paramount.

Not only that, but the protection of employees’ health was vital. Rather than introducing completely new software to comply with increased safety measures, it made sense for the company to leverage SwipedOn features, including visitor screening, contactless sign in, visitor approvals and the employee companion app, SwipedOn Pocket, which allows employees to safely sign in using their smartphones.

The Highest Priorities

When looking for a visitor management system, PLB's highest priorities were ease of use and having the ability to operate compliant work sites, which meant reducing non-essential contact. SwipedOns contactless sign in feature, for both visitors and employees, was the perfect fit for reducing non-essential contact along with helping the business remain compliant with data privacy legislation.

The system’s intuitive design meant that it met PLB criteria around ease of use; both the web dashboard and iPad application have been created with the user at the forefront of design and development. Admins, employees and visitors alike are able to navigate SwipedOn efficiently and with ease.

Why SwipedOn?

PLB chose SwipedOn specifically because of safety measures around COVID-19 and the decision to reduce paper processes/waste. SwipedOn plants a tree for every new customer, meaning that the goal to reduce paper waste ties in with SwipedOns inherent values around generosity and striving for a greener future.

SwipedOn reacted quickly to the pandemic, pivoting product development to facilitate contactless sign in and the ability to ask visitors and employees crucial screening questions prior to entering the premises. Now, upon sign in at a site, workers and visitors are prompted to complete health and wellness checks via the SwipedOn app custom yes/no questions. Completed questionnaires can then be approved or rejected by the site manager.

SwipedOn allows PLB to collect important visitor and employee data, including name and contact details. Should the need arise, contact tracing can be carried out at the touch of a button via the SwipedOn web dashboard.

Further, Visitor and employee data is also shown in real-time - the web dashboard provides a complete overview of who is on-site - giving Site Managers and HR the ability to instantly generate and export reports. This data helps PLB to keep their sites safe and compliant.

The three key features PLB find most effective for use across their seven sites are easy visitor sign in, multi-location settings and email notifications.

Operating During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Continuing business as usual during the COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge that many workplaces have faced in the UK. To remain open, they have had to remain compliant and operate safely. Contactless sign in via QR code scanning and visitor approval alerts have enabled PLB to operate during this challenging time.

The Results

With improved procedures including contactless sign in and the ability to contact trace at the touch of a button, SwipedOn has supported PLB efforts to remain operational during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accuracy was greatly increased and the risk of COVID-19 non-compliance significantly reduced.

The addition of SwipedOn Pocket has brought further efficiencies, enabling employees to easily sign in using their own smartphone, further reducing non-essential contact or gathering in entrance areas.

• The ability to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic
• A way to reduce non-essential contact
• Keeping accurate records of both visitors and employees who have been on site
• A way to screen potentially high risk individuals before entering the premises

• Effective procedures that allow the business to operate safely during COVID-19
• Site management efficiencies including knowing who is - or has been - on a given site at any given time
• Working towards environmental goals by reducing the use of paper
• Easily carry out contact tracing with accurate reporting