The Changing Mobile Computing Needs of Field Workers During COVID-19

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security in coordination with Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an extensive list of what they considered “essential workers” during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s no surprise many of those workers are field workers where rugged tablets are a necessity for during their job under normal circumstances. From healthcare and public safety to utility, delivery, and service workers, the list of essential workers includes:

• Law enforcement, public safety, and first responders
• Food and agriculture workers (processing, delivery, and transport)
• Energy, petroleum, natural and propane gas workers
• Water and wastewater public works
• Transportation and logistics
• Defense industrial base workers

Frontline workers currently make up most workers in the United States, accounting for 57 percent of the total U.S. worker population. However, in 2020, only 49 percent of frontline workers have mobile devices, compared with 55 percent of information workers. That’s according to a mobile workers forecast from IDC.

Countless organizations with significant field support staff do not provide personal rugged tablets to each worker that are only used by them. That means multiple people over the course of a week or month may handle an issued work-related mobile device. Many organizations use the protocols put in place by healthcare to deal with keeping the workers safe and the devices disinfected daily. This includes protocols such as:

• Disinfecting with specific cleaning agents and processes after each use before storage
  (70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe made for these devices and their screens)
• Storage in sealable clear plastic bags between uses
• Use of disposable gloves for workers handling the same device.

While this provides a measure of safety in eliminating transmission of surface-borne viruses including coronavirus, the device’s capabilities become equally critical in the COVID-19 era. Besides the health safety aspects, companies issuing mobile devices to their field workers have to deal with the data and device safety through comprehensive mobile device management.

While familiar consumer-grade mobile devices will work for a while, there are definite limitations of placing these devices within rugged cases. In particular, an add-on case may degrade over time and lose its ability to protect its enclosed device. This includes decreased ability to protect against impact and contaminants such as water which can destroy the electronics it penetrates the device case. Connections to external peripherals, typically via a USB port, our largely unconstrained, can vibrate lose over time, and can damage the connector due force applied through the mating cable. Overlayed screen protectors typically provide less impact protection than a rugged display built into a device designed for ruggedness.

View Original Source: https://www.inhand.com/the-changing-mobile-computing-needs-of-field-workers-during-covid-19/

Use of Industrial Android Tablet in the Construction Industry

The construction industry is a broad field that encompasses many sectors where the use of an industrial Android tablet will has both overlapping and separate uses.

View original source: https://www.inhand.com/use-of-industrial-android-tablet-in-the-construction-industry/

A Commercial Tablet Just Won’t Cut It for Your Medical Application

It is tempting to want to purchase inexpensive, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tablets for use in medical facilities or to interface with medical equipment. Unfortunately, there are several technical, regulatory and security issues that could prevent you from doing that. Technical issues, FDA, and HIPAA security rules are just three potential pot holes for COTS tablets. Custom Android tablets for medical applications can be the answer and Modified-COTS custom tablets can get you to market quickly and with lower costs.

Medical Grade Tablet – Technical Issue

There are many unique devices in hospitals and doctor’s offices that a tablet could communicate with to facilitate the logging, processing, and management of data. Tablets are perfect for visualizing data, processing results and for sharing that data with patients or other medical personnel. Finding an off-the-shelf tablet that can seamlessly interface with various pieces of equipment may be impossible. Off-the-shelf tablets have other potential issues such as being too fragile for this environment, short product life-cycle, limited battery run-time, poor display readability in strong lighting or outdoor applications, as well as many others. Finally, the IT manager will want to control the tablet’s software to prevent unwarranted use or access. Access to the operating system may not be possible without voiding the warranty on a COTS tablet and some of the security requirements imposed on medical grade tablet may require just that.

FDA Certifications

If the tablet is going to be used in an application that requires FDA approval of the device, using a COTS tablet would become prohibitively costly. COTS tablet companies constantly change components, software and model numbers. Each change could require a recertification with FDA – a process that takes quite a long time and money. The FDA’s multi-step process for approval of Class I, II and III medical devices starts at product design and requires documentation throughout the development process. For Class II and III devices, strict manufacturing practices need to be followed and the device must be manufactured under the strict medical ISO 13485 in an approved manufacturing plant. COTS tablets are typically not built under this standard and the manufacturers do not provide the appropriate documentation and tracking necessary to meet FDA approval.

HIPAA Issues

HIPAA Title II establishes the policies and procedures for maintaining privacy and security of individually identifiable health information. Medical personnel can us a tablet to collect and display data, lab and test results, and personal information on an individual patient. In order to conform to HIPAA the tablet would need to be designed to meet the Security Rule to protect such data.

View original-source: https://www.inhand.com/commercial-tablet-just-wont-cut-medical-application/