Priority areas

The use of sensors is behind a big shift in workplace safety. Umbrella term to indicate digital systems for monitoring and enhancing workers’ safety and health including for example smart PPE (that can identify levels of gases, toxins, noise levels and high-risk temperatures), wearables (able to interact with workers, with sensors that may be embedded in hardhats or safety glasses), mobile or static systems that use cameras and sensors (e.g. drones that effectively reach and monitor dangerous areas of work sites avoiding to put humans in danger in the construction and the mining industries). are protecting workers by maintaining and increasing work safety in potentially hazardous industries. Examples include smart personal protective equipment, Wearables are electronic devices with sensors and computational capacity (e.g. smart watches, data glasses, or other devices with embedded sensors or tags), which can be placed on different body parts to gather data to be fed into other digital systems for processing purposes. They can be used to analyse physiological and psychological data such as feelings, sleep, movements, heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure, via applications either installed on the device itself or on external devices, such as smartphones connected to the cloud. that can detect early signs of physical, muscle and mental fatigue, as well as mobile or fixed systems that use sensors or cameras to detect hazards.

Even though these technologies are designed to improve OSH, they also pose challenges and risks. For instance, workers may feel a loss of control over the tasks they perform and become too reliant on technology. This overreliance on technology can contribute to errors and increase the risk of accidents. It is also possible that data collected by the digital systems are inaccurate, limited or even biased. What’s more, these systems collect very sensitive personal data that can be misused for the monitoring and surveillance of workers.

To address all these issues, it is essential to consult workers and their representatives at every step – from the design stage to the implementation.

Check out our campaign resources to find out more.