What are Wearables?

Technological advancements can be seen everywhere in all aspects of our everyday lives, but we rarely think about how that same technology can improve safety on a jobsite. You may be wearing a smart watch right now, but have you ever heard of smart boots or smart bands for hard hats? These are examples of modern-day safety companions called "wearables."

Wearables can monitor health indicators, detect fall hazards, and increase communication. While this new (and some not so new) technology can literally change the landscape in construction, it also adds a layer of concern in the legal field.

This month, Leslie O’Neal, JAMS Mediator and Arbitrator and editor of Technology in Construction Law, visited with us to talk about wearables and other technological advancements impacting the construction industry. Over the next few months, be on the lookout for additional Andrews Myers newsletter articles about construction technology, how it may impact contractors on the jobsite, and how those same advancements impact business and legal decision making. Our sincerest gratitude goes out to Leslie for her leadership and insights into this fascinating subject.

What are wearables and how do they impact the jobsite?

With any construction job, safety is the top priority. It is commonplace to conduct daily safety briefings, mandatory safety drills, and practice good safety habits. Wearable technology is reshaping how owners, contractors, and workers think about safety and actively protect themselves from injury. Wearable technology essentially means any device that construction workers wear on their person to improve safety. There is a wide variety of options on the market that offer different features and capabilities.

Smartwatch Anyone who wears an Apple Watch® is familiar with all of its capabilities. You may even use the Apple Health app to track your personal metrics as part of your daily routine. Construction smartwatches work similarly in that they can track health and activity data such as vital signs, heart rate, step counts and even record heart rhythms and blood oxygen concentration levels. These features are meant to identify risks of respiratory distress for individual workers. Smartwatches can also be used for hands-free communications and to track a worker’s location in the event of an emergency to improve injury response time.

Smart Boots These boots are equipped with sensors that can detect falls and shock impacts that could damage joints, muscles, bones, or even internal organs. Like the smartwatch, the smart boot sensor can immediately notify emergency responders of the worker’s exact location. Some boots are also equipped with sensors that allow the worker to push an "SOS" button or acknowledge receipt of an evacuation notice.

Smart Band Hard hats are a requirement on a construction site, but smart bands take the traditional hard hat to a whole new level. Smart bands are equipped with sensors that are capable of detecting worker fatigue, microsleep (sudden temporary episode of sleep or drowsiness), and proximity to danger. By detecting fatigue, the smart band sensors can prevent accidents from momentary lapses in attention. Real-time proximity alert capabilities can go a long way to reducing accidents caused by collisions or falls.

AR Glasses Instead of "virtual reality" (VR) construction technology uses "augmented reality" (AR) to enhance safety on the jobsite. In short, AR glasses use a visual computer-generated overlay into the worker’s real work environment. As the worker moves throughout the jobsite, the overlay provides location information to avoid fall risks, hazardous chemicals, and other workplace hazards, as well as providing visual and sensorial alerts. These glasses take safety a step further by integrating direct and specific how-to information such as where to attach a safety harness.

Body Sensors Body sensors can be worn just about anywhere, but are typically clipped to the worker’s safety vest, arm, or wrist. Body sensors have a variety of capabilities ranging from detecting extreme temperature variances to hazardous chemicals and muscle fatigue. These sensors are helpful for identifying heat-related and exposure hazards. Like the other devices we’ve touched on, body sensors can provide real-time alerts and improve overall productivity.

Integrating wearable technology into construction activities comes with some risk and a broader concern for data security, personal privacy, and yes litigation discovery. The upside to wearables cannot be denied. They offer real-time immediate prevention opportunities as well as faster, more reliable emergency responsiveness. On the flip side, they transmit personal information about the individual wearer which can be intrusive, maybe overly intrusive to some. Then there are the ever-present technical glitches and connectivity issues every cell phone or internet user knows all too well. Once you overcome these barriers the sky is the limit for the benefits of wearables.

But wait, there is more. Drones. Proximity monitoring devices. Robots. Common construction issues such as safety violations, delays, and productivity will now be measured in real time. The landscape is changing and changing rapidly; and owners and contractors must keep up.

Next time, we will continue talking about the construction technological landscape. In the meantime, knowing what technology is being used on your job, who maintains the data, how it is collected, and how it is being stored, are just a few pieces of the puzzle that will give you a leg up in not only managing the job more efficiently but managing the dispute resolution process if/when needed.