Managing school visitors safely during pandemic times

Image courtesy of Passtab

Managing school visitors

safely during pandemic times

By Heather Barker Vermeer Industry Reporter

A visitor management system is technology that tracks visitors entering your school and allows you to monitor their whereabouts on your premises. It replaces the old-fashioned handwritten visitor record with a more efficient, more secure system.

With COVID protocols shifting rapidly, sometimes on a weekly basis, having a digital system that can immediately implement new restrictions is not just handy but potentially lifesaving. Vaccine certificate requirements for entry are the most recent example of this—a school with a digital visitor management system can enforce the regulation automatically. Further, this may also prevent some potentially uncomfortable interactions between unvaccinated arrivals and staff, who can point to the digitised system as a means of de-escalation. free entry and health screening, to denying access when someone does not fit within your onsite policies or has completed their authorised visit, there are clear benefits to a digital visitor management system. Features such as pre-registration and arrival alerts can facilitate a much smoother ‘check-in’ process. Configuration settings can also be shared across sites so that visitors can be managed from a reception workstation or remote ‘kiosk’, such as an app via an android or IOS device.

Sign-in and out processes can be customised with school branding too, a professional touch that may impress prospective parents and special guests and can provide a warm welcome to international arrivals from a sister school or visiting sports team.

Software can provide a comprehensive audit trail of all visits, securely maintained on a command server. Data is a beast that can run wild should you have insufficient ability and capacity to maintain it safely and effectively. Outsourcing your visitor management system service ensures data is legally stored and remains in safe hands.

Image courtesy of Passtab

Passtab Operations Manager, Laura Hunt advised School News that COVID-19 regulations have created a new layer of compliance to the school’s visitor management processes “that are now vital to the health and safety of the whole school environment”. She explained: “The school system must rapidly adapt to continually changing COVID-19 directions set by the Government. My team, for instance, now has a dedicated staff member whose role it is to monitor and interpret governing body advice and mandates in each state—all to ensure schools have the most up-to-date processes in place. “A visitor management system will make screening for COVID-19 risk and health declarations a simple process by ensuring each person arriving at the school understands what is expected of them. Each person will be presented with the school’s terms of entry and an “I agree” check box then sign the declaration electronically as part of the check-in process.

Manage vaccination status by adding a dedicated vaccination module within the digital system

“School terms of entry generally cover that the person is feeling well, they are not COVID-19 positive, and are not a current close contact. The system stores all declarations with other visitor information making it easy to access if required. The most eff ective way to manage vaccination status, for example, is to add a dedicated vaccination module that operates within the digital system. People att ending the school on a regular basis, such as teachers, visitors, volunteers, contractors, and relief staff sign in, set their vaccination status within the system, and provide the appropriate evidence. The system monitors their status at each sign in, relieving school staff from the ongoing checking process. Casual visits can be collected and checked as a once off . The system must be able to adapt to each state and governing body regulations and the individual requirements that may occur at various schools. “For booster shots, likewise a dedicated school system should have provisions to alert the school during sign-in if the visitor is not up to date with their booster shot. These timeframes are a moving target and an automated system must be designed to seamlessly adapt in real-time.”

For schools, the visitor management system they use is really their “fi rst line of defense”, according to Laura, which is why “using the iPad to display a message like ‘Please Sanitise’ is helpful, along with listing COVID-19 safe practices visitors must agree to during sign in.”

Contactless mobile sign ins and QR codes have become standard now, so “this is a good option for schools looking for a contactless sign in process either permanently or periodically during high-risk times”. However, “there are other no contact or low contact sign in methods such as RFID which allow people to tap in and tap out with a key FOB or card”, and these options can have additional security benefi ts.

MANAGE COVID-19 VACCINATION STATUS

EFFICIENTLY DURING SIGN-IN

The Passtab Vaccination Module automates the process of storing a person’s vaccination status and monitoring it during sign-in. It’s fast and e cient and will alert you when action is required. A specialised report in your Passtab Administration Dashboard allows you to validate, review and audit vaccination status and the evidence people provide. The system can either ‘store’, or ‘view and con rm’ vaccination evidence while also managing the progression to the third dose program. When COVID-19 guidelines and mandates change, the Passtab Vaccination Module will ensure you are always up-to-date.

The vaccination module is part of the Passtab visitor management system. For further information: Ph: 03 9800 1489 Email: team@invision.net.au