“A big reason why we chose welloStationX was its status as an FDA-cleared medical device. This gave us confidence that we would get accurate data to help us prevent outbreaks.”
Jim Withers, Corporate EHS Director, American Packaging Corporation
“With the welloStationX in place, we feel ready to comply with any new protocols from the CDC as the science of virus infection evolves.”
Jim Withers, Corporate EHS Director, American Packaging Corporation
Founded in 1902, American Packaging Corporation (APC) is an industry-leading fabricator and supplier of commercial packaging products. Supermarkets and retailers across North America stock hundreds of products that use APC packaging, and the company has built a reputation for providing flexible and specialty solutions. Wello helped APC adjust its safety protocols to prevent coronavirus outbreaks — and prepare for whatever may come in future.
Jim Withers is APC’s Corporate Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Director. His role is to work with each of the company’s five facilities to create an EHS vision and related programs. APC’s core EHS requirements are driven by federal and state regulations, and Jim ensures that the company remains in compliance. With a strong emphasis on safety, Jim and his team work to ensure that, at the end of every work day, APC’s 1,000 employees leave their facility in the same condition as they had arrived.
Masks and cleaning were not enough to stop COVID-19
As the coronavirus pandemic unfolded in the U.S., Jim and APC’s pandemic response team got busy formulating a response. They conducted extensive research, gathering information from the CDC and reaching out to EHS professionals at similar companies. Like most businesses that remained operational during the pandemic, APC began by mandating face masks and implementing aggressive cleaning protocols. This included all high touch surfaces, from doorknobs to machine panels, three times a day. They trained employees to clean the surfaces of their own work areas, as well as brought in commercial cleaning vendors to provide additional support and address public areas. After six weeks, the team felt that the company could do more to prevent the spread of coronavirus across their facilities.
The third pillar in APC’s pandemic response: temperature screening
After consulting with peers at other companies, the pandemic response team saw that many were looking into temperature screening as a way to lower the risk of COVID-19 entering the workplace. The team began studying the science behind the technology, and they learned that screening was indeed an effective method of infection control.
APC began using a third-party vendor who set up temperature screening stations manned by clinical professionals. With three shifts operating over 24 hours every day of the week, APC facilities have people coming in at all times, which drove up costs and added complexity. The pandemic response team considered simplifying their approach by switching to self-service kiosks. They contacted six clinical thermometer vendors, including Wello, and conducted due diligence around the effectiveness, features, costs, and suitability of each product.
When compared with other solutions, Wello rose to the top. The welloStationX was appealing in that it was automated, touchless, and fast. In addition, the self-service kiosk was more cost-effective than other solutions, which would make it easier to roll it out across multiple locations. But what won the team over was Wello’s industry leadership. “A big reason why we chose welloStationX,” Jim says, “was its status as an FDA-approved medical device. This gave us confidence that we would get accurate data to help us prevent outbreaks.”
Fast, streamlined temperature screening, 24/7
Once APC’s pandemic response team decided to go with Wello, they adopted 16 welloStationX kiosks, installing roughly three in each APC location. Two kiosks are situated 30 feet apart at each main employee entrance, with partitions to help maintain employee privacy, and a third kiosk is positioned at the administrative staff entrance.
With APC’s earlier manual screening process, employees became used to lining up to be screened each day. “This made the transition to welloStationX much easier,” says Jim. When employees first used the Wello kiosk, it took a moment for them to adjust to the correct stance. Each station included a pedestal stand to accommodate the variation in employee height. However, employees got the hang of it right away and have since accepted it as part of their daily clock in experience. “On the first day we opened our Wello kiosks,” says Jim, “I expected to be inundated with complaints from employees having problems with the device and that wasn’t the case.”
When the team considered temperature reading thresholds, they first went with the recommended high of 99.5 and low of 96.5. After some time, they found only one individual had registered a 99.5 temperature. After revisiting this, they increased the upper threshold to 100.4 in order to avoid a false positive and send people home unnecessarily.
Infection control is the “new normal”
For Jim and APC’s pandemic response team, the future may be more opaque than ever, but one thing is clear: infection control protocols are here to stay. They don’t expect the need for temperature screening to go away. There may be a second round of the coronavirus coming, and flu season is coming up. The CDC’s understanding of COVID-19, and their recommendations to businesses, are continuously evolving. Whatever may be around the corner, APC is ready. “As science catches up with the virus,” Jim says, “we are in a good position to adhere to any new infection control guidelines that may come up in future.”
