As casinos across the country reopen, they’re adding safeguards that intensify the hectic nature of managing a 24-hour entertainment facility.
Employees need to checked daily for coronavirus symptoms before they start work. Machines must be cleaned and disinfected repeatedly throughout the day. Everyone on staff requires training for the new procedures. Supervisors must be able to track workers’ interactions on site in case a coronavirus infection is detected.
There’s not exactly an app for that, but technology can help make sure that any pandemic-related measures a casino wants to implement are done on schedule.
Casino Essentials of San Diego, Calif., known for its compliance training and e-learning programs for the gaming industry, has customized software to help guide casinos as they reopen.
A team at Casino Essentials, which is owned by Vector Solutions of Tampa., Fla., reworked three Vector products specifically for casino use:
- Vector EHS, which tracks employee health responses and potential exposures to coronavirus.
- Vector Check It, to monitor sanitation checklists
- Vector Scheduling, for workforce scheduling
A Casino Essentials spokesman says Vector EHS allows workers to check in, even from home before they start their shift, and answer six yes-or-no questions formulated by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. Questions include “Have you avoided coming in contact with anyone experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 in the last seven days?” and “Are you free of a dry cough?”
Those who pass all the questions are cleared to work. For those who don’t pass, their supervisor automatically gets an email allowing her to determine whether a worker should stay home. It also allows a supervisor to trace where the employee worked in previous shifts, in case those co-workers should be tested for coronavirus.
Vector Check It allows a casino to write a custom sanitation checklist for the property. For example, a casino might want a particular section of the slot floor cleaned every hour and have a task list that includes disinfecting the buttons and wiping down the chairs. A list for a table games area could include the schedule for cleaning dice or switching out playing cards.
The staff responsible for each area has access to the electronic checklist and marks off each task as it is completed.
Vector Scheduling helps ease the chore of getting the right number of people working. If an employee did contract COVID-19, the spokesman said, then shifts might have to be staggered to reduce the chance of exposing others. Vector Scheduling allows supervisors to schedule employees online through a cloud-based platform that fills shifts in an automated and equitable fashion. It includes mobile alerts and lets supervisors see real-time employee responses.
Assuming the COVID-19 threat eases through development of a vaccine or other treatment, the software can be used for other purposes, the spokesman adds.
For example, firefighting and EMS agencies use Check It to monitor vehicle maintenance. Casinos with a bus or limousine fleet could add that function, or they could track slot maintenance needs. Vector EHS could be adapted to track incidents involving employee or guest injuries.
Online training is another way casinos can help themselves reopen safely, the spokesman says, because employees can attend training from home, reducing risk of exposure to coronavirus.
In its 10-year history, Casino Essentials has provided a wide range of training for about 350 casinos nationwide. The company offers more than 150 online titles, including courses leading to federal anti-money laundering certification, and educational conferences
The programs and the online learning management systems are available as a suite or can be purchased individually.
