5-3. Ensuring Worker Health and Safety with Wearable Devices

In recent years, wearable devices have played a crucial role in managing worker health and ensuring safety. While traditional health management focused on periodic checkups and reactive responses, wearable technology now allows for the real-time monitoring of heart rate, body temperature, blood oxygen levels, and stress indicators. This directly helps to prevent workplace accidents and reduce health risks. This article explains the mechanisms, applications, benefits, and practical considerations of implementing wearable devices.

1. How Wearable Devices Work

Wearable devices, such as watches, chest sensors, and smart helmets, collect a worker's biometric data in real-time. The data is sent to the cloud or a dedicated app, where it can be analyzed by AI and visualized on a dashboard for quick decision-making by safety managers. This system enables immediate alerts when an anomaly is detected, allowing for a swift response.

2. Practical Applications for Health and Safety

Wearable devices are highly effective at preventing overwork and heatstroke. For instance, a system that detects abnormal heart rates or body temperatures can prompt workers to take a break, proactively preventing serious incidents. Using an accelerometer to detect falls or slips allows for a quick rescue, even during solitary work. Furthermore, long-term data analysis can be used to improve the work environment and provide personalized health guidance.

3. Benefits of Implementation

Implementing wearable devices enhances workers' safety awareness and strengthens a company's risk management. For EHS (Environment, Health, and Safety) departments, a significant benefit is the ability to create improvement plans based on quantitative data. Using this data also makes it easier to meet the requirements of occupational safety and health laws and ISO 45001, which directly leads to improved compliance and increased trust from customers and investors.

4. Important Considerations for Implementation

On the other hand, privacy protection and a robust data management system are essential. To prevent excessive surveillance of workers, the purpose and scope of data use must be clearly defined, and an agreement with employees must be reached. The practicality of the device—including comfort, durability, and battery life—is also key to successful implementation.

Conclusion

Wearable devices help prevent workplace accidents and create a better working environment by using real-time health data. In the future, predictive analysis using AI and integration with IoT will enable even more advanced health management and safety measures. For companies, wearable technology is a powerful tool for protecting workers' health and strengthening the foundation for sustainable management.