Safe Site Global to provide ‘one-stop shop’ for Niagara businesses aiming to ensure workplaces are COVID-19 friendly

A group of companies that specialize in providing emergency and pandemic services to workplaces came together Wednesday to officially launch a consortium to help Niagara businesses deal with the challenges of COVID-19.

Spark Niagara — a startup business incubator in downtown Niagara Falls — and Niagara Falls Ryerson Innovation Hub launched a Safe Site Global consortium including companies that each offer a unique service that, when combined, can help businesses provide a cohesive health-and-safety package during and after the pandemic.

The companies are part of the Spark Niagara program or have graduated through the innovation hub.

Businesses who use the services of the consortium are given a Safe Site sticker for their door so visitors know they have done everything to keep their customers safe, said Dan Bordenave, director of operations for Spark Niagara.

He said companies that want to learn more about the program can email info@safesiteglobal.com.

“We’ll reach out to them and set them up with an inspection — it can be done virtually, so by providing us such things as your floor plans, number of employees … we’ll basically recommend the services we think are most necessary for them, so that they are benefiting but they’re not spending a lot of money,” said Bordenave.

Rakesh Tiku, president of inField Solutions, was one of the members of the consortium who walked members of the media through the Zimmerman Avenue hub and services provided.

The company monitors and manages building infrastructure, with a focus on water-leak detection, smart washrooms, connected cubbies and self-serve convenient stores.

For example, Tiku said the company can monitor use of a washroom and based on every 50 people that go in to use the facility, a sterilization event is triggered.

“Each of us in this consortium have a very unique view and lens of the problem of COVID, in this case, how to solve it, how to address it, how to enable companies to be prosperous in that environment,” he said.

“Because of our unique lens and focus on that lens, collectively we provide a holistic solution that actually works. You can’t just put a censor in to count people in a building — that’s not enough. If there is a problem, what do you do? What’s the process and procedure? How do you sterilize? That’s why we formed this group of like-minded, but complimentary products and services.”

Yousef Raf, chief operating officer of SteriPlus, said his company specializes in disinfection and sterilization.

“We test the pathogens before and after the disinfection, so we can show the efficacy of our product,” he said, adding the company is an offshoot of SteriPro, which for about 30 years has specialized in sterilizing hospital medical devices.