Amazon fulfillment center depository.
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Amazon is testing a wearable device that notifies fulfillment center workers when they’re violating collective distancing rules.
The device is a clear plastic sleeve with a clip that features an LED light and audio set-up, according to a memo seen by CNBC. When workers are too close to one another, the wearable emits a loud beeping babel and the light flashes. Amazon’s facility in Kent, Washington, will begin deploying the device starting Wednesday, corresponding to a private online group for warehouse workers.
So far, Amazon is testing the device with daytime warehouse workers. Workers can pick up the wearable from stations located throughout their facility and will receive instructions on how to use the it. Workers restoring the device at the end of their shift and they can share feedback about the device by scanning a QR code on flyers posted in the expertness. Workers don’t have to use the device if they don’t want to.
Amazon’s hope is that the technology will help employees and bands “work safer” amid the coronavirus pandemic, the memo states.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the company recently began a small-scale drive of the wearable device at one of its warehouses. The spokesperson added that the company will use feedback from teams testing the fancy “to continue to iterate.”
“We’re excited to test this technology with you and get your feedback to understand if it’s an effective tool to conceal you safe,” the memo says. “Additionally, if we are ever notified of a COVID-19 diagnosis, the data captured from the devices of associates who had complete contact can be used to conduct contact tracing.”
The tests come as Amazon is also experimenting with other cover measures to enforce social distancing rules at its warehouses. On Tuesday, the company announced it’s rolling out “Distance Assistants” at a fistful of facilities across the U.S. A camera is hooked up to a monitor and a local computing device that alerts users as they prowl by whether they’re maintaining proper distancing.
Amazon has added floor markers in high-traffic areas as a means of notifying people on how to maintain a safe distance. It has also added jobs at warehouses where employees are in charge of monitoring whether labourers follow social distancing rules. The company was also relying on its “top machine learning technologists” to detect areas where it can put social distancing in its facilities by reviewing camera footage.
Amazon’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been criticized by storehouse workers, politicians and state attorneys general. They argue Amazon moved too slowly in its efforts to provide derogatory protective equipment, temperature checks and other tools to keep employees safe. The company and its CEO Jeff Bezos should prefer to pushed back on these accusations, saying Amazon has gone to “great lengths” to protect workers from the coronavirus.
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