New products target workplace safety needs post-pandemic

As people go back to the office, ThinkHR’s “Tell Us” platform will let employees report organizational issues and SysAid’s Worksafe app will help companies comply with new regulations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new normal and different ways of working, as well as introducing new risks. New products from HR software company ThinkHR and Mammoth HR and enterprise service management provider SysAid are designed to help companies and employees feel safe.
 
ThinkHR and Mammoth HR are launching Tell Us, an anonymous reporting portal, for company leaders to manage and take action on incidents employees have confidentially reported at work, the company said.

It is meant to be an “early warning system for problems within the workplace by encouraging employees to report on anything they believe warrants HR or management’s attention and do so without fear of reprisal,” the company said.
 
Earlier this month, SydAid launched its Worksafe app, which is designed to help organizations comply with new health and social distancing regulations. Worksafe will let employees self-report their location and health status daily, while automatically alerting management to potential exposure at work, the company said.
 
If employees forget to self-report or present symptoms while at work, their SysAid accounts will be locked.
 
The Worksafe app can be customized for different reporting regulations, and with SysAid’s automatic email rules, organizations can send employees a daily email reminder to complete the check-in, the company said.

“We needed a fast, reliable way to monitor the health of our team, so we initially developed [the] Worksafe app for our own use,” explained Sarah Lahav, CEO, in a statement. “The app worked brilliantly, gave us peace of mind, and spared us from manually collecting and aggregating health check-ins. This app can help other organizations safely reopen their workplaces while preventing COVID-19 outbreaks.”

Some of what employees can report in Tell Us includes:

  • Concerns about an employee not following COVID-19 preventative measures in the workplace
  • Harassment or cyberbullying occurring in messaging or video conferencing apps
  • Theft
  • Suspicious behavior

Tell Us is part of ThinkHR and Mammoth HR’s people management platform. The information employers receive from Tell Us will enable them to address issues in the workplace before they become a problem, prevent incidents from occurring, reduce the risk of lawsuits, and show their commitment to building a culture of trust and accountability, the company said.  

“Many issues don’t get resolved because there’s not this two-way communication” when an issue arises, said Julie Small, vice president of product marketing at ThinkHR and Mammoth HR.

Tell Us will help an HR person to understand whether the incident was a one-time thing and request further details, Small said. Employees can submit documentation and check the status of whatever they submit, receiving a unique login to the portal every time they create an incident, she said. They will also receive notification when the matter is resolved.

The impetus for the portal came after a survey the company did and received a 64% response rate from people who felt something digital and systematic was needed to resolve workplace reporting issues, Small said.

In the pre-COVID-19 world, people were often reluctant to report issues such as harassment, she said. Now, with new safety and privacy procedures in place, “we think environmental health and safety are very top of mind,” such as too many people  entering an elevator, not washing their hands correctly, and inappropriate handling of data from temperature checks, among other issues, she said.

Tell Us will be available for ThinkHR customers on July 1, and available early next year for Mammoth HR customers, the company said.

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This article was authored by Esther Shein and originally published on June 10, 2020 by Tech Republic.

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