Reimagining Facilities for a Safe Return to Work

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January 29, 2021

In 2021, millions of people around the world began receiving their doses of COVID-19 vaccines, bringing about a new chapter in our fight against the pandemic. As vaccine distribution continues, organizations around the world must turn their attention to the critical goal of how to safely bring their employees back to work. What works for one organization is unlikely to work for another one.

Creating safer spaces

Solutions including TRIRIGA help organizations to monitor space and create new floor plans that comply to social distancing guidelines. Advanced new AI capabilities can now analyze floor plans and occupancy and make recommendations for facilities managers about the best ways to accommodate distancing and improve flow. AI is also at the core of TRIRIGA Assistant, a new chatbot that can be embedded into office messaging and collaboration tools to help employees book spaces and find their seating assignments.

New working models will require organizations to continue re-thinking their use of space, even when concerns like social distancing begin to dissipate.

Guarding worker safety and asset health

When we think about keeping offices and facilities safe and open, we also have to think about the equipment that helps them run, from the HVAC systems that keep an office building’s air clean to the advanced lab equipment used to create new pharmaceuticals.

Asset management technologies like IBM Maximo help organizations keep assets operational while also keeping workers safe, for example, by allowing organizations and facilities to monitor crowd density, detect face mask usage and designate certain areas as no-go zones.