An entrepreneur who’s introducing an electronic tag solution to ensure social distancing at work has claimed the closure of a highways depot last week could have been avoided if his system had been implemented.

The facility on the A14 near Cambridge was shut after one member of staff exhibited Coronavirus symptoms. There is no suggestion or evidence that if they did contract the virus, it happened in the workplace.

Neil Levett, who owns keep2m.co.uk said, “This is exactly what the wearable tags, with full reporting facilities, are designed to stop happening. Had the person who fell ill been wearing one of our tags with its unique QR Code, we could have identified who they had had close contact with and only isolated those people.

“If you are wondering if you can afford a system, seriously, just ask yourself if you can afford another enforced shutdown because you aren’t able to identify who somebody with symptoms has come into to contact with.”

Highways England says the A14 project has very stringent safety measures in place, including a pandemic plan that had been prepared before work started in 2016 and that these measures were successful in ensuring that only one member of staff contracted the virus, and that all others tested negative.

The add that the short-term closure from Tuesday to Sunday did not cause any delay on the A14 project, given that the vast majority of the scheme was completed in May, some eight months ahead of schedule.

A Highways England spokesman told Highways News, “Our sites have stringent social distancing measures in place and we have temporarily paused work on the project and closed our site offices while we carry out a deep clean.”