Barriers to the Adoption of Wearable Sensors in the Workplace: A Survey of Occupational Safety and Health Professionals

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Hum Factors
• Personal Author:
  Schall, Mark C. ; Sesek, Richard F. ; Cavuoto, Lora A.
• Description:
  Objective:
  
  To gather information on the (a) types of wearable sensors, particularly personal activity monitors, currently used by occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals, (b) potential benefits of using such technologies in the workplace, and (c) perceived barriers preventing the widespread adoption of wearable sensors in industry.
  
  Background:
  
  Wearable sensors are increasingly being promoted as a means to improve employee health and well-being and there is mounting evidence supporting their use as exposure assessment and personal health tools. Despite this, many workplaces have been hesitant to adopt these technologies.
  
  Methods:
  
  An electronic survey was emailed to 28,428 registered members of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and 1,302 professionals certified by the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics (BCPE).
  
  Results:
  
  A total of 952 valid responses were returned. Over half of respondents described being in favor of using wearable sensors to track OSH-related risk factors and relevant exposure metrics at their respective workplaces. However, barriers including concerns regarding employee privacy/confidentiality of collected data, employee compliance, sensor durability, the cost/benefit ratio of using wearables, and good manufacturing practice requirements were described as challenges precluding adoption.
  
  Conclusion:
  
  The broad adoption of wearable technologies appears to depend largely on the scientific community’s ability to successfully address the identified barriers.
  
  Application:
  
  Investigators may use the information provided to develop research studies that better address OSH practitioner concerns and that help technology developers operationalize wearable sensors to improve employee health and well-being.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Article Ergonomics Health Personnel Humans Industrial/workplace Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal Disorders Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Physical Ergonomics Privacy Tools, Consumer Products Wearable Electronic Devices Work Measurement Workplace

  More +
• Source:
  Hum Factors. 60(3):351-362
• Pubmed ID:
  29320232
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9307130
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  T42 OH008436/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  60
• Issue:
  3
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:85423eea7729103bcc9f1eab8245ec2fe7607cd72afe99466b351da558bb07aa
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/119639/cdc_119639_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 657.01 KB ]