In 2010, Biosite was founded to focus on the design and development of intelligent biometric solutions for construction sites. The product didn’t come first, it was the identification of a problem and the desire to help solve it.
The benefit of a biometric solution is that it is truly unique and therefore vastly improves security. However, construction sites aren’t the cleanest of environments and matching someone’s working fingerprint isn’t an easy task, so the development team worked hard to see if they could find a reliable solution. And they did.
We developed a unique algorithm that could read and process low quality fingerprints. It’s more accurate than standard fingerprint scanners,
facial recognition systems or conventional swipe card and PIN based identification systems, and it’s ideal for construction site environments.
The next natural step was to develop software alongside this to help sites manage their workforces. This could then vastly improve efficiency, safety and security.
One of the first obvious benefits is that using a biometric solution means each operative has a unique profile. Even if an operative tries to register on a different site, using slightly different details, they will still be recognised and linked by their fingerprint. This means that main contractors can establish a true working history, credential and warning record of every individual.
This record then starts to bring more power and protection. For example, each operative can pre-register before attending site and at this point they can be asked various verification questions. Details of their health, credentials and right to work can be captured and those operatives who don’t qualify can be excluded then and there, saving huge amounts of time and resource.
To strengthen this, in 2011, Biosite became a CSCS IT partner. This means that we work with CSCS to check the details of operatives to find out if they have a valid card or not.
The next step was for Biosite to offer a larger range of integrated solutions. In 2012 we provided the first fully integrated access control, CCTV and security solution to a UK construction site, and in 2014 we launched our Wireless Fire Alarm with First Aid Call Points.
It’s this full range of products that allows us to truly help customers manage, monitor and maximise their safety and security on construction sites. Not only is the process efficient with easy de-duplication, but there are corporate reporting options as well that give a global view of what is happening across all sites, providing that very important extra level of detail.
There are multiple different options when it comes to finding suitable access control and workforce management, but a solution that has been designed to be fit for purpose can’t be overlooked.
