Originally published on LinkedIn in December 2020; reviewed and updated for this site.
It is now more than a decade since the release of the series one Apple Watch, and in that time wearables have been among the more prominent connected technologies. A wristwatch that measures your heart rate, counts your steps and tells you your next appointment is an easy concept to grasp.
There is more scope in wearables, though, than their public image as personal fitness aids suggests. They are making their way into the industrial sector as vital safety equipment, helping safeguard the wellbeing of people whose work brings them into contact with hazardous conditions.
The scale of the problem
There is little doubt such a solution is necessary. Employees in extreme environments deal daily with high temperatures, open flames, toxic gas and heavy machinery.
Research by the International Labour Organisation put occupational accidents and work-related disease at more than 2.78 million deaths per year, alongside some 374 million non-fatal work-related injuries and illnesses annually, many resulting in extended absence from work. The human cost is vast, and the economic burden of poor occupational safety and health practice has been estimated at 3.94% of global GDP each year.
Even a non-fatal injury can have a devastating effect on an employee's health and livelihood. Beyond the distress of the injury itself, accidents affect productivity and companies suffer significant financial losses. According to the CDC, workplace injuries and illnesses cost employers in the United States alone more than $220 billion annually — around $1,685 per employee, with 27 million working days lost per year. Those rising costs also feed through to insurers and premiums.
The connected worker
Advances in IoT technology are giving rise to the connected worker: a worker who is more aware of, and sensed by, their environment is inherently safer. Wearable and embedded sensors make it possible to monitor workers within their surroundings to prevent injury from falls, overexertion and heavy machinery — and the list of what they allow us to prevent is a long one.
Wearable technology taps into the Internet of Things for gathering, integrating and analysing sensor data. Coupled with advanced analytics and alerting, and with external sources like environmental and weather data, there is enormous potential for managing health and wellness, and for changing the way we live and work.
The majority of workplace injuries are preventable through monitoring worker status. Injuries can be avoided by ensuring protective equipment is used correctly, or that time and location limits for hazardous situations are observed. Integrating and presenting contextual information to field workers from a wide variety of sensors creates better-informed workers and management. The method is non-intrusive, hands-free, always on, environment-aware, and delivers critical information directly to the people who need it, when they need it.
The side effect: productivity
Aside from safety, wearable devices can produce more productive workers — because a safe worker is a productive worker. Monitoring for safety helps implement measures that lead to less fatigue, less time spent on unnecessary work, and more time on the work that matters.
Wearables also change how people interact with their work environment. Mobile applications extend critical information and workflows to wherever the work gets done, from the plant floor to remote field locations. They help people engage more actively with work processes and management systems, perform tasks with higher efficiency and safety, and reach business applications such as maintenance and quality where and when they are needed.