Hand geometry

Allegion’s Schlage HandPunch hand readers were installed, utilising turnstiles from the original construction project Allegion has completed a project to provide a biometric access control system at one of Europe’s largest ever construction projects, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with the system installed verifying the credentials of over 10,000 workers during an 18-month build project. The project formed part of a £292 million construction scheme to transform Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into its legacy state following the success of the 2012 London Olympic Games. It is second time Allegion has been involved in the landmark site. In 2007, when the regeneration project to build the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, first got under way, Allegion installed biometric handreaders at entrances to the construction site. The handreaders successfully enrolled and handled over 30 million transactions during this initial project, helping ensure the safety of 81,000 people. When the 2012 London Olympic Games were over, attention was turned to transforming the vast site once again. Main contractor, BAM Nutall, appointed Human Recognition Systems (HRS) to deploy a secure access control and workforce management system that could work at scale, and would be innovative and flexible enough to be easily relocated while also remaining cost effective. "Having worked together on a biometric access control and workforce management system for the construction of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the build-up to the 2012 London Olympic Games, HRS and Allegion already had a successful track record at this iconic site" HRS selected Allegion as a partner to once again deliver one of the most advanced security solutions on the market today, incorporating biometrics. Allegion’s Schlage HandPunch hand readers were installed around the BAM-controlled 17km master site, utilising 24 turnstiles from the original construction project. Paul Taylor UK Sales Leader at Allegion, said: “Having worked together on a biometric access control and workforce management system for the construction of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the build-up to the 2012 London Olympic Games, HRS and Allegion already had a successful track record at this iconic site. For this next major construction scheme, HRS developed and installed a system which once again used Allegion’s tried-and-tested Schlage HandPunch.” The Schlage HandPunch biometric reader uses field-proven hand geometry technology. It maps and verifies the size and shape of a person’s hand in less than one second, making it ideal for high throughput applications; and it is well-suited to the construction environment, as a user’s hand does not have to be clean or sterile for the reader to work. Construction workers at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park were enrolled onto the system by inserting their hand onto the platen of the HandPunch hand reader and were also given an individual PIN number. To gain access, workers entered their PIN number on the keyboard of the hand reader and placed their hand on the platen. Each transaction was recorded, providing accurate information on the number of workers onsite and duration of stay. The use of hand geometry meant no fingerprints or palm prints were taken. Users therefore did not leave behind any trace of biometric data, so there were no privacy concerns with the use of the technology. Construction workers at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park were enrolled onto the system by inserting their hand onto the platen of the HandPunch hand reader and were also given an individual PIN number Over time, the biometric access control solution proved its flexibility, and the access control points were re-sited as the 17km site perimeter altered over time. The redeployment of existing turnstiles and access control equipment from the original build ensured the project was managed sustainably. The system also provided robust health and safety information. Accreditation was tied to employee biometric details and featured an inbuilt alarm to warn managers of those whose accreditation was about to expire. If a worker was banned from a site, this change cascaded to every site networked with the central situation and managers could also store details in the system whenever an employee was involved in an accident. In addition to the health and safety, sustainability, and security advantages, biometrics also had cost benefits for the project, with the electronic system relying less on security personnel stationed at site access points. It also made it virtually impossible for site workers to clock in and out on behalf of each other, and the data provided meant more accurate payments could be made to contractors. BAM selected MSite software as an access control and workforce management solution that would work with the biometric technology to identify workers and manage their access rights to the site. A single instance of the software encompassed all 24 turnstiles, enabling reports to be combined from multiple satellite sites onto one system. HRS’ exclusive license to use CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) smart cards in conjunction with biometrics for access control enabled BAM to validate both the worker’s identity and CSCS accreditations, and allowed BAM to avoid costs for additional swipe cards, by utilising those already issued by CSCS.

  The SNUH Clinical Research InstituteSNUH Clinical Research InstituteSince its establishment in 1885, Seoul National University Hospital has been one of the nation's finest medical facilities.  One of the many excellent medical research departments in SNUH, the Clinical Research Institute is the first specialized organization for clinical research in Korea.  The operation units in CRI include 3 research wards, 6 outpatient clinics, pharmacy department, clinical laboratory/core lab & serum bank, analytical/pharmacology lab, Pharmacoepidemiology Division, and Pharmacodynamic Laboratories.ChallengesCRI faced a problem.  They didn't have an adequate human resources management system for their building filled with doctors, researchers, and administrative/security staff coming in and out.  They had had an RFID access control system in place to limit access to certain areas of the building, but this just happened to make the human resources management more difficult.There were many cases where some employees who have terminated their employment did not properly return the RFID cards to the HR management office, and those unreturned cards were often misused by others.  As a result, out of about 2,000 people working in the CRI building, the management office wasn't able to track almost 5-600 people.  To protect their intellectual properties, people and expensive medical equipment, they decided they were in critical need for a security upgrade to a biometrics system, which effectively eliminates the possibility of fraudulent access using others' credentials as it requires biometric features of the entrant only specific to that individual. "For a place like CRI, where every bit of information needs protection and a variety of extremely high-priced medical equipment is kept, security means more than just a necessity." said project manager Do-Hyeong Kim, of the Domestic Sales Department of IDTECK.Choosing IDTECK "We contacted several local solutions providers to deliver the solution we needed, and after doing some research, we decided IDTECK would provide the best solution for us," said Hyeong-seop Kim, senior manager of CRI's Administrative Department. "Our key considerations in selecting IDTECK were hardware stability and experience in projects of similar scale. Our research revealed that compared to its competitors, IDTECK's products possess strength in ability of configuring and implementing large-scale systems," he added. Since IDTECK's readers and controllers offer strong communication via TCP/IP network and have stability built up over a number of years, they display a strong performance when applied to a large-scale access control system comprising of control panels and readers.  These strengths, coupled with the competitive pricing, were recognized by CRI staff as compelling and served as the main reason for choosing IDTECK's solution.   iTDC is IDTECK's multi-door access control panel with the capacity to control up to 4 readersProject requirementsThe building of the SNUH Clinical Research Institute has a total of 11 floors plus a basement.  Access to certain floors or labs had to be restricted exclusively to authorized staff.  About 2,000 users including researchers and administrative staff needed to be accommodated.  Users on certain floor groups had to be managed in decentralized ways due to the large number of users on each floor and the high turnover rate, which is common to the medical research industry.  Security for the basement had to be much tighter than other areas as it is where the power generation room, electric control room, and other such dangerous facilities are located.Solution: FINGER006 - fingerprint-recognition proximity cardThe FINGER006 is IDTECK's fingerprint-recognition proximity card reader with a keypad.  The reason behind choosing the FINGER006 was mainly because the reader provides various authentication modes including RF card + fingerprint and RF card + password so that some researchers whose fingerprints are injured or damaged from using medical equipment can gain access using card + password verification in lieu of fingerprint verification.  In some areas like radiation rooms where researchers need to enter with sterile gloves on, the card-only authentication mode was applied, and in the basement where several potentially dangerous facilities are located, the RF card + fingerprint + password authentication mode was applied for the highest security level.Meanwhile, the iTDC is IDTECK's multi-door access control panel with the capacity to control up to 4 readers.  onfiguration using control panels like the iTDC is desirable where multiple reader units must work together as it offers both strong stability and a high level of securityThe FINGER006 readers were installed at 43 entry points including those for high security areas such as research labs, operating rooms, radiation rooms and administrative offices.  For controlling these readers, 11 iTDC control panels were placed in secure control rooms across the building and then connected to host computers.The main server computer, which is responsible for across-the-board access control, was located in the Physical Control room while 4 client computers, responsible for security monitoring and user registration, were located in 4 different administrative offices on the 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 9th floors, respectively.  The STARWATCH iTDC PRO II software was installed on those host computers, and a Hamster (Fingerprint Enrollment Device) and the FINGERPRINT ENROLLMENT PRO 2006 software was installed on each computer, allowing the administrators of each floor group to add users to the system individually.Convenience for the busy staff was also another consideration.  While ensuring tight security on entry, exit was made quick and hands-free by installing PIR sensors at exits, in order to provide hands-free access for the researchers who often have to carry heavy loads outside.  The STARWATCH iTDC PRO management software was configured to automatically delete those who had no entry events for 2 months, eliminating the problem in which those who have already left the institute still remained in the database.     FINGER006, IDTECK's fingerprint recognition deviceBenefits realized"The administrative managers were very happy that they would no longer have to worry too much about security of the institute as they now have complete control over the entrants and an added layer of security with biometric verification," remarked Do-hyeong Kim, a domestic sales representative of IDTECK, adding, "One of the HR managers raved about the convenience and versatility offered by our management software. After all, they no longer worry about the unidentifiable entrants because fingerprint verification provides a virtually foolproof method of ensuring that the person who enters is the same authorized person."