Clugston Construction Ltd has installed a biometric turnstile at one of its sites for time and attendance. The biometric Site Access Turnstile is supplied by UKB International Ltd has been installed at the $91 million Derwenthaugh EcoPark site in Gateshead, where Clugston is building a steam autoclave recycling facility for client Graphite Resources.

Workers, sub-contractors and suppliers who have undergone the Clugston health and safety check are registered by having their fingerprint scanned. The biometric system identifies minutiae points on the finger which are converted to data, encrypted and stored for future comparison. No actual fingerprints are stored and the reporting data is held only by Clugston.

Once registered, workers simply scan their fingerprint to gain access to, or leave the site. The system admits one worker at a time, thus eliminating the practice of ‘Buddy punching’ clocking in workmates who leave early or arrive late.

The multi-spectral scanner reads both fingerprint and sub dermal ridges making it difficult to ‘Spoof’ with a fake fingerprint. Both scanner and housing are ruggedized and able to operate in a wide range of temperatures while being resistant to water, dust and dirt. The scanner can read a fingerprint through grease, dirt, paint or latex gloves.