Sealed Air, Diversey Unveil First ‘Joint Offering’

The first joint offering from Sealed Air and Diversey has rolled out to the I&I market. Sealed Air Corporation has introduced VSS Vision Safety Solutions, a service offering that enables health care facilities to improve hand hygiene compliance among health professionals. The service increases hygiene and safety in hospitals through its innovative technology that visually detects, records, and notifies of improper or insufficient hand washing and sanitizing events, according to Sealed Air.

Currently available only in US, VSS is offers health care providers a cost effective way and a potential new tool in the fight to reduce the number of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) by increasing compliance with hand hygiene. VSS Vision Safety Solutions is currently in trial at several health care facilities in the US, including the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview and Indiana University Health. These institutions are using the VSS service offering to detect and record when hand hygiene occurs; the duration of each hand washing event; and confirmation that each individual uses soap and/or sanitizer.

According to William V. Hickey, Sealed Air CEO, VSS Vision Safety Solutions leverages “Sealed Air technology and Diversey’s expertise in cleaning and hygiene and its access to major health care providers.”

The VSS system also offers Diversey brand hand hygiene products, said Hickey.

VSS technology, powered by Sealed Air’s patent pending VTID Vision
Tracking and Identification system, is a computer vision technology consisting of RFID sensors and software programs that utilize complex algorithms to process and analyze the imagery. The system detects non-compliant imagery and can transmit alerts that can be accessed by hospital staff members only. In addition to monitoring for compliance, the data can be used for training.

Each health care worker wears an ID badge with an RFID tag that detects when they approach a sink or sanitizing station. A small digital detection device that is strategically positioned monitors each hand washing event. An additional detection device then records if soap or sanitizer is used and how long the hand washing event takes place.