Pegasystems has announced the launch of a new app designed to help organisations track the spread of COVID-19 among its employees.

The COVID-19 Employee Safety and Business Continuity Tracker app provides employers with a live dashboard ‘visualising the scope' of COVID-19 in their workforce.

Employees self-report their COVID-19 status by answering a set of risk assessment questions.

Their answers then feed into the status dashboards and trigger a series of automated actions that inform the organisation with instructions on how to manage their situation.

“Speed and accuracy are critical elements in times of crisis,” says Pegasystems founder and CEO Alan Trefler.

“With the state of the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly evolving, Pega quickly developed this app to help our clients ensure the wellbeing of their employees and customers while also helping to mitigate their business risks.

“We hope this contributes in some small way to the ongoing fight against the virus during these extraordinary circumstances.

Pega says the app was inspired by client, a healthcare provider in the US with over 200,000 employees and volunteers.

The company needed a solution to manage the health and scheduling of its staff, many of whom are doctors and nurses on the front lines on the fight against COVID-19.

The organisation deployed a system to clarify who is cleared to work, and determine when infected or at-risk staff can reenter the schedule rotation.

Pega used this solution as a springboard to develop its own app to be used across organisations and industries.

Pega says the app is configurable, with organisations being able to customise how the software reacts to different risk scenarios to meet the unique needs and policies of their business.

• Analysing employees' risk levels (high, medium, or low) based on screening questions
   
• Sending tailored instructions to the affected employee based on their risk level
   
• Alerting applicable managers and HR on newly-assessed employees
   
• Generating checklists for HR managers with actions for affected employees
   
• Estimating the likely return-to-work date for employees
   
• Sending employees periodic reminders to update their COVID-19 health status to help ensure the most up-to-date data and staff availability

• Identifying other employees who might have been exposed to an infected worker based on their meeting schedule or offices visited
   
• Continuity planning to maintain ongoing work with unaffected staff
   
• Alerting other departments who need to take action on building access, scheduling, and communication.