Our Voice & Actions

Kevin Harrup, Manager, Emerging Technologies, ALCS, and Mohammad Zafar, Associate Analyst, Technology, ALCS, spent the bulk of 2020 identifying and deploying new technologies to help protect Altria employees from COVID-19. One of their successful pilots was a technology called TraceTags™. 
 
TraceTags™ are industrial-grade, wearable devices that emit an audible alert when people are less than six feet apart. Each employee has a designated device that logs the precise time and duration of their close-contact interactions while at work. This helps to reinforce social distancing protocols and also assists with contact tracing if an employee tests positive for COVID-19.  
 
After piloting the technology in U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company's Clarksville and Nashville facilities, the number of interactions within six feet dropped by more than 70 percent. Employees used the audible feedback to immediately self-correct their behaviors. Additionally, management was able to use TraceTag™ data to identify where they needed to strengthen existing safeguards. The team expanded the manufacturing facilities of Altria’s other tobacco companies as quickly as possible.