It’s well publicised that two doses of the Covid-19 vaccination currently translate to being ‘fully vaccinated’, with the latest statistics indicating that 93.5% of the Australian population aged 16 and over have received their first two doses.
The spotlight has now turned to the first booster or ‘third dose’, with all States providing guidance relating to eligibility timeframes, and certain Australian States, industries and roles now faced with a very short period to manage worker boosters to be compliant and reduce the spread of Covid.
But exactly how are employers collecting, verifying, collating, and storing their workforce’s vaccination statuses, that enables an individual to easily prove their status safely and securely, and a company to properly apply good governance? This question was at the forefront of WorkPro CEO Tania Evans’ mind as vaccination numbers started to rise around the country late last year.
“As part of evaluating the design of our vaccination solution in October last year, we conducted a survey of a random sample of WorkPro customers to understand the industry they worked, roles they engaged, mandates for vaccinations, and their plans to manage the process”, commented Evans. “It was concerning that two of the most common customer responses were ‘we are still working through it’ or ‘in person or email and excel spreadsheet’.”
Under the Australian privacy laws, a person’s vaccination status/certificate is considered sensitive information and attracts higher privacy protections. Whilst collecting in person or emailing a certificate and storing the confirmation on an excel spreadsheet does not breach this protection, it does raise extended concerns relating to security, candidate consent, retention, and destruction of the information.
“As a workforce compliance specialist, and a company that operates in an environment of highly mobile workers, we knew we had to lead with a program that was rigid enough to meet privacy and security requirements, balanced with flexible configuration to suit any industry and associated legislation, and an easy process for candidates, Evans noted. “We were also cognisant of catering for easy functional upgrades as State health guidelines and legislation changed.”
“Some of our customers engage and manage workforce’s of more than 20,000 individuals, so it was imperative that we made it as simple as a few clicks in the customer dashboard to request, collect, verify, and retain or delete a workers’ certificate, and automate reminders for doses and boosters.”
WorkPro has created a solution that allows for bulk requesting, a two-step process for candidates, with the option for them to securely share their digital Certificate with another employer, automatic notifications surrounding upcoming doses, and the ability to retain or destroy the evidence once viewed/verified.
Since the launch of WorkPro’s vaccination program in October 2021, close to 50,000 candidates have uploaded their vaccination status information and Digital Certificate.
With the recently launched third dose/booster, the upgrade includes timed automated notifications/reminders for candidates to book the additional dose and update their vaccination status, providing full transparency and reporting to customers.
Is this the ultimate vaccination status management regime?
Unfamiliar with WorkPro? The Melbourne based company has been assisting Australian businesses manage workforce compliance for 15 years. Aggregating background checks, medical checks, safety eLearning, reference checks and a clever licence and document management function, the platform enables organisations to quickly curate a suitable screening, onboarding and induction program for any industry and candidate, centralising all the fundamental recruiting and compliance elements in a single program.
