Workplace wearables and Connected Worker solutions: Changing the digital landscape of occupational safety, health and productivity (Preprint)

Abstract

Workplaces affect the worker safety, health and productivity at multiple levels. Smart data collection devices (wearable devices) and pervasive computing platforms (connected worker solutions) have emerged for the continuous surveillance, mitigation, and predictability of occupational risks and hazards. While there is significant buzz about new and trending workplace technologies, there is however very limited organized information on these products, their applications and workforce benefits. Most of new information on workplace technology products appears in news outlets, websites and social media. The existing insight articles on this topic cover a select number of products and use cases. As such, there is a need to assimilate all the above information in a comprehensive and easily digestible manner -- something that has been done in the field of consumer electronic wearables.

Here, we review the recent trends in commercial workplace technologies to monitor and manage occupational risks, injuries, accidents, and diseases. We present examples of workplace safety wearables intended for safe lifting, ergonomics, hazard identification, sleep monitoring, fatigue management, and heat and cold stress. We give examples of workplace productivity wearables for asset tracking, augmented reality, gesture and motion control, brain wave sensing, and work stress management. We also show examples of workplace health wearables designed for work-related musculoskeletal disorders, functional movement disorders, respiratory hazards, cardiovascular health, outdoor sun exposure, and continuous glucose monitoring. Connected worker platforms are discussed with information about the architecture, system modules, intelligent operations, and industry applications. Taken together, these examples highlight the ground level benefits of real-time visibility about frontline workers, work environment, distributed assets, workforce efficiency, and safety compliance. In addition, predictive analytics with artificial intelligence and machine learning provide contextual information about occupational safety risks, resource allocation, equipment failure, and predictive maintenance.

We researched different companies within the fields of occupational health, safety, and productivity. We then communicated with each company, discussed their products, and sought permission to reproduce their product images in our review manuscript. We compiled the different categories of products in this space and presented them in this work.

For long-term industrial leadership and sustainability, such a compilation of emerging trends in wearable devices and pervasive computing is valuable to all interested players responsible for a safe, healthy and productive workplace.

We believe that this review will build awareness about work-related safety and health technologies for the common public and the diverse groups of personnel (employers, safety and health managers, supervisors, employees) involved in the development, implementation, adoption, and management of these technologies.

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