Make Sporting Facilities Safer For All With Enhanced Access Control

Colin Campbell, Managing Director of Codelocks, looks at how access control solutions can help keep transmission rates low as fans flock back to sports stadiums.

Few events were as keenly anticipated as the re-opening of stadiums. With fans now able to attend events at outdoor venues, stadia of all sizes are welcoming fans and players back to their facilities. This means stadium managers need to deliver the safest and best possible experience for returning fans, staff and athletes. One way to achieve this goal is to upgrade facilities with enhanced access control solutions.

Tackle High Contact Areas

However carefully we manage the movement of staff, fans, and even athletes around the stadium, there are high contact areas, like locks and handles, which provide ideal surfaces for bacteria to breed and transfer.

You can of course provide hand-sanitiser dispensers at each door – but you can’t guarantee their use. Another solution is to regularly sanitise door handles and locks – but this resource intensive option also relies on good practice. A longer-lasting way to deal with the risk of locks and door handles spreading disease is to treat them with special coating with built-in antiviral properties.

A number of different solutions are currently in development, and some are already available. A British company, specialising in innovative microfiltration technology, is working on a coating that attaches biocides to nanoparticles and can be applied to a wide variety of surfaces. Northumbria University is working on a ‘super-hydrophobic’ coating for use on high-contact areas such as handrails and trolleys. These coatings could be applied to turnstiles for example – and significantly reduce the risk for fans transferring the virus to each other.

One access control solutions provider is already offering an optional antiviral coating with all of its products. It is a clear coating that uses nanotechnology to fight bacteria and lasts for the life of the product. Fitting staff areas with pre-treated locks and door handles can significantly reduce the risk of passing infection between staff members – though it should be used with (rather than in place of) hand sanitising measures.

Provide Safe, Easy Access To Lockers

Lockers are another high-risk area, as the smooth hard surfaces of the doors and locks can harbour bacteria. Whether used by athletes, staff or visiting fans, it’s another high contact area that should be singled out for attention. Fitting RFID card-operated keyless locks is one way to reduce contact. Employees or players can then simply present a card to unlock the locker. You can also fit locker locks that have been treated with anti-bacterial coatings – further reducing the risk of spread of infection of viruses and bacteria.

Work Smarter – Not Harder

Fitting doors and lockers with smart locks can make your life easier – and reduce unnecessary contact, too. With smart locks fitted to the right doors, you can provide access for essential visitors (such as cleaning staff) even when you’re not on the premises. Using software, or an app, you can generate single-use, time specific codes that you can simply text to an authorised visitor. You can also check the lock’s audit trail, to ensure that no-one has been gaining entrance when they shouldn’t be – adding an extra layer of security and safety.

If you have fitted RFID locks to lockers, you can manage these remotely too – saving you from having to visit the changing rooms each time. If there has been a change to a teams’ line up, or you need to allocate lockers for staff or visitors, you can either manage the RFID cards, or send a single-use, time specific code as required, with no need to leave the comfort of your office.

Protection Starts At The Front Door

It has been said that COVID-19 has been a great technology accelerator. This has been proven true, not only in the areas of vaccine research and development, and in cloud and digital technology, but even in everyday objects that we take for granted such as locks and door handles. By building anti-bacterial protection into access control solutions, and working smarter, not harder, we can make football stadiums and other sporting facilities safer for all.