Case Study #32 - Hong Kong Construction
Hong Kong Construction Sites Use Hundreds of Biometric HandReaders
May 20, 2006
With up to 300,000 transactions taking place each day, HandReaders provide the ultimate outdoor biometric solution for quickly letting workers in, keeping others out, and preventing timecard fraud at massive construction sites in Hong Kong.
by Tony Yuen, COO
Solution Expert Technology Ltd.
In the Hong Kong world of high-rise construction, just getting authorized employees in and out of a job site—and keeping unauthorized individuals out—is a major undertaking. One construction project alone can employ thousands of workers at any given time and up to 10,000 workers may leave their mark on a site from foundation to completion. More than 95 percent of Hong Kong construction involves immense high-rise buildings.
Protecting projects from theft and keeping people from getting hurt on construction sites are always a top concern. In Hong Kong, strict labor and safety laws that prevent illegal workers, and workers without safety training, from entering construction sites makes strict access control even more urgent. General contractors who violate these laws in Hong Kong receive heavy penalties when they are caught.
Hong Kong contractors are increasingly turning to biometric technology to help them quickly give access to authorized workers and accurately deny entry to people who should not be on site. With biometric technology, a worker's permit and safety training records, along with expiration dates, can be entered into a database that not only verifies an employee's identity, but instantly checks to see if that employee is authorized to be there. For many Hong Kong construction companies, biometric HandReaders are the technology of choice.
HandReaders work by automatically taking a three-dimensional reading of the size and shape of a hand and verify the user’s identity, in less than one second. According to Frost and Sullivan’s “World Biometrics Report,” hand geometry is the most commonly used technology for access control and time and attendance.
HandReaders recognize people, not plastic cards. They assure that “you are you.” For locations such as construction sites, HandReaders are easy to supervise since nobody forgets to bring their hands or fingers to work and there are no hands for administrators to manage.
Further, HandReaders handle any population volume with ease while providing impeccable reliability. With dramatically lower false reject and failure to enroll rates than other biometric technologies, the value of HandReaders grows as the number of users and/or transactions increases. Not only do they keep the bad guys out, HandReaders ensure the good guys gain access in any size application.
Why Choose HandReaders?
We feel that there are several factors that make HandReaders the hands-down access control device of choice at heavily trafficked Hong Kong construction sites. First, they are accurate and fast, even with extremely high-volume entrances and exits. Second, they can withstand extreme weather conditions. Third, they work even if a user's hand is dirty or has cuts. That's an important feature on a construction site, and it's a capability not offered by other biometric readers. And last, but certainly not least, HandReaders integrate smoothly into time and attendance programs, a real plus for cost-conscious employers.
At Solution Expert Technology, we have written time and attendance software for both Chinese and English users that interfaces seamlessly with HandReaders. Our customized solutions are used at more than 100 construction sites operated by several of the largest construction companies in Hong Kong, including Sun Hung Kai Properties. Sun Hung Kai Properties operates 15 sites utilizing 75 HandReaders.
"By using the HandReader we have solved the illegal worker problem at our construction sites, and we are able to accurately track each employee's payroll account," reports S.K. Lai, personnel manager for Sun Hung Kai Properties' construction operations.
The portability of our solutions is a key selling point. Since many site entrances are temporary and are often moved every three to four weeks. Our turnstile solutions are also made to be easily towed from entrance to entrance and site-to-site. This also means that if a machine goes down, we can remove and replace it quickly, limiting critical downtime. With the high number of employees required at large construction sites, companies can't afford to have their timekeeping system go down.
Our turnstiles also offer a dual system with HandReader terminals on both sides, allowing the same turnstile to be used by workers either entering or exiting a site. A contactless smart card, typically kept in a hip pocket, calls up a stored biometric template, which is then immediately validated by placement of the employee's hand on the HandReader terminal. Timekeeping information for the employee is instantly transmitted to a central office via an Ethernet network connection. Everyone entering the site, from employees to outside subcontractors and vendors, is required to use the HandReaders for access.
The HandReaders themselves are protected by weatherproof stainless steel housings equipped with red/green indicator lights. One set of battery-powered turnstiles can serve up to 300 workers who enter and exit the site up to six times a day. That means that one set of turnstiles can handle a remarkable 1,800 transactions per day while still quickly and efficiently providing both timekeeping and access control functions.
With the HandReader turnstiles, Hong Kong construction companies can now directly pay all workers—whether they have been hired by subcontractors or not—eliminating potential contract disputes and giving construction companies greater control over their budgets. They also have daily access to accurate reports about overall payroll costs. The HandReader terminals also ensure that every person entering a construction site holds a valid safety card and has completed an eight-hour mandatory safety training class.
What's more, the HandReaders prevent "buddy punching," a practice by which one employee punches the timeclock for a coworker who is late or absent and put a lid on the not-uncommon practice in Hong Kong of simultaneously punching in at two different construction sites. The cost savings to companies from those two issues alone are enormous, accounting for between 3 to 5 percent of overall payroll costs.
Why Go Biometric?
Biometric technology is clearly gaining wider acceptance in Asia, and particularly Hong Kong, which recently issued its citizens new identification cards that contain fingerprint data on a contact smart card.
Why are governments and businesses embracing biometric technology? Simply because it does its job well. The goal of any access control system is to let authorized people, not just their credentials, into specific places. Only with the use of a biometric device can this goal be achieved. A card-based access system will control the access of authorized pieces of plastic, but not who is in possession of the card. Systems using PINs (personal identification numbers) require that an individual only know a specific number to gain entry. But, who actually entered the code cannot be determined. If the goal of an access control system is to control where people, not credentials, can and cannot go, only a biometric device truly provides this capability to the end user.
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About the Author:
Tony Yuen is Chief Operation Officer (COO) for Solution Expert Technology Limited in Hong Kong. Established in 1999, Solution Expert Technology Limited (SE) was launched as an IT solution provider. Today, it has grown to become one of the leading providers of biometric and security products, a one-stop solution for corporate clients covering most Southern China regions, including Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong Province. Phone number is (852) 2851 4567. Website is www.solutionexpert.com.hk.
by Tony Yuen, COO
Solution Expert Technology Ltd.
In the Hong Kong world of high-rise construction, just getting authorized employees in and out of a job site—and keeping unauthorized individuals out—is a major undertaking. One construction project alone can employ thousands of workers at any given time and up to 10,000 workers may leave their mark on a site from foundation to completion. More than 95 percent of Hong Kong construction involves immense high-rise buildings.
Protecting projects from theft and keeping people from getting hurt on construction sites are always a top concern. In Hong Kong, strict labor and safety laws that prevent illegal workers, and workers without safety training, from entering construction sites makes strict access control even more urgent. General contractors who violate these laws in Hong Kong receive heavy penalties when they are caught.
Hong Kong contractors are increasingly turning to biometric technology to help them quickly give access to authorized workers and accurately deny entry to people who should not be on site. With biometric technology, a worker's permit and safety training records, along with expiration dates, can be entered into a database that not only verifies an employee's identity, but instantly checks to see if that employee is authorized to be there. For many Hong Kong construction companies, biometric HandReaders are the technology of choice.
HandReaders work by automatically taking a three-dimensional reading of the size and shape of a hand and verify the user’s identity, in less than one second. According to Frost and Sullivan’s “World Biometrics Report,” hand geometry is the most commonly used technology for access control and time and attendance.
HandReaders recognize people, not plastic cards. They assure that “you are you.” For locations such as construction sites, HandReaders are easy to supervise since nobody forgets to bring their hands or fingers to work and there are no hands for administrators to manage.
Further, HandReaders handle any population volume with ease while providing impeccable reliability. With dramatically lower false reject and failure to enroll rates than other biometric technologies, the value of HandReaders grows as the number of users and/or transactions increases. Not only do they keep the bad guys out, HandReaders ensure the good guys gain access in any size application.
Why Choose HandReaders?
We feel that there are several factors that make HandReaders the hands-down access control device of choice at heavily trafficked Hong Kong construction sites. First, they are accurate and fast, even with extremely high-volume entrances and exits. Second, they can withstand extreme weather conditions. Third, they work even if a user's hand is dirty or has cuts. That's an important feature on a construction site, and it's a capability not offered by other biometric readers. And last, but certainly not least, HandReaders integrate smoothly into time and attendance programs, a real plus for cost-conscious employers.
At Solution Expert Technology, we have written time and attendance software for both Chinese and English users that interfaces seamlessly with HandReaders. Our customized solutions are used at more than 100 construction sites operated by several of the largest construction companies in Hong Kong, including Sun Hung Kai Properties. Sun Hung Kai Properties operates 15 sites utilizing 75 HandReaders.
"By using the HandReader we have solved the illegal worker problem at our construction sites, and we are able to accurately track each employee's payroll account," reports S.K. Lai, personnel manager for Sun Hung Kai Properties' construction operations.
The portability of our solutions is a key selling point. Since many site entrances are temporary and are often moved every three to four weeks. Our turnstile solutions are also made to be easily towed from entrance to entrance and site-to-site. This also means that if a machine goes down, we can remove and replace it quickly, limiting critical downtime. With the high number of employees required at large construction sites, companies can't afford to have their timekeeping system go down.
Our turnstiles also offer a dual system with HandReader terminals on both sides, allowing the same turnstile to be used by workers either entering or exiting a site. A contactless smart card, typically kept in a hip pocket, calls up a stored biometric template, which is then immediately validated by placement of the employee's hand on the HandReader terminal. Timekeeping information for the employee is instantly transmitted to a central office via an Ethernet network connection. Everyone entering the site, from employees to outside subcontractors and vendors, is required to use the HandReaders for access.
The HandReaders themselves are protected by weatherproof stainless steel housings equipped with red/green indicator lights. One set of battery-powered turnstiles can serve up to 300 workers who enter and exit the site up to six times a day. That means that one set of turnstiles can handle a remarkable 1,800 transactions per day while still quickly and efficiently providing both timekeeping and access control functions.
With the HandReader turnstiles, Hong Kong construction companies can now directly pay all workers—whether they have been hired by subcontractors or not—eliminating potential contract disputes and giving construction companies greater control over their budgets. They also have daily access to accurate reports about overall payroll costs. The HandReader terminals also ensure that every person entering a construction site holds a valid safety card and has completed an eight-hour mandatory safety training class.
What's more, the HandReaders prevent "buddy punching," a practice by which one employee punches the timeclock for a coworker who is late or absent and put a lid on the not-uncommon practice in Hong Kong of simultaneously punching in at two different construction sites. The cost savings to companies from those two issues alone are enormous, accounting for between 3 to 5 percent of overall payroll costs.
Why Go Biometric?
Biometric technology is clearly gaining wider acceptance in Asia, and particularly Hong Kong, which recently issued its citizens new identification cards that contain fingerprint data on a contact smart card.
Why are governments and businesses embracing biometric technology? Simply because it does its job well. The goal of any access control system is to let authorized people, not just their credentials, into specific places. Only with the use of a biometric device can this goal be achieved. A card-based access system will control the access of authorized pieces of plastic, but not who is in possession of the card. Systems using PINs (personal identification numbers) require that an individual only know a specific number to gain entry. But, who actually entered the code cannot be determined. If the goal of an access control system is to control where people, not credentials, can and cannot go, only a biometric device truly provides this capability to the end user.
-30-
About the Author:
Tony Yuen is Chief Operation Officer (COO) for Solution Expert Technology Limited in Hong Kong. Established in 1999, Solution Expert Technology Limited (SE) was launched as an IT solution provider. Today, it has grown to become one of the leading providers of biometric and security products, a one-stop solution for corporate clients covering most Southern China regions, including Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong Province. Phone number is (852) 2851 4567. Website is www.solutionexpert.com.hk.