No matter how often you remind them, some food-service employees still forget to wash their hands after using the rest room. But bathroom-borne germs will soon be decimated if Net/Tech International can help it. The company is testing Hygiene Guard, an infrared system that monitors employees in the rest room.
"A small dome on the ceiling floods the bathroom with infrared rays," explains Net/Tech spokesperson Mark Hersh. "When an employee enters the bathroom, it activates his or her badge. The employee has to grab the soap dispenser handle and be in front of the sink for at least 15 seconds before exiting," he says, or the badge will report the infraction to a computer and, in turn, to the worker’s boss.
Of course, there’s nothing to stop an employee from removing the badge to sneak off for a smoke, but if records show they never visit the rest room, management may begin to suspect that something foul is going on.
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