With the world on “Pause”, the rhythm of daily life has changed. Penalties and opportunities come with the change. The fact that very few are driving or flying means that major parts of our industry are suffering. At the same time, being in lockdown opens time to do things that we’ve been meaning to do.
A few days ago, I took advantage of my free time to call an important customer to see how he was doing. His site is taking the simultaneous brunt of the oil crash and the pandemic; so I wanted to simply listen to him about what he was going through. He was focused on the tactical changes to his role that were dictated by the pandemic and wasn’t really focused on the likely business impact of the oil crash. On balance, he was optimistic in the long term but obviously concerned with the immediate risks to his people.
In the exchange, I asked what, if anything, we could do to help. I didn’t realize that the question would open my own eyes to something that I thought I knew everything about. His response was surprising. In our discussion that followed, he said he felt better equipped to battle COVID-19 with AllClear because it enabled him to have a “touchless” process for unit sign in and sign out (he uses AllClear Unit Accountability). It eliminated the contact surfaces of his old pen and paper sign in sheets. He also said that the data he gets from our system will help him with contact tracing if one of his staff tests positive for the virus because he’ll be able to see who worked in the unit at the same time.
For some, it’s only gloom and not doom. On another call, the site was coping with the pandemic but they serve markets that are stable during the economic crisis, namely food. They’re on track for their financial goals but they still need to create a resilient workplace. Our system owner at this site said they are using our mobile Unit Accountability to separate personnel from the control rooms when they sign in and out of the unit. We hadn’t thought of that one either.
The world is different now so the way we view it is changing, too. There is opportunity in the change if we listen and understand it. I plan to use this time to find new ways to improve what we do and help our customers improve their safety and emergency readiness.
Stay Safe,
Christopher Laibe
Founder & President at inFRONT
