Wearables at Work

In the U.S., wearables – in the form of fitness trackers – are becoming as commonplace as wristwatches. Nearly 40 million people wore a wearable device in 2016 and Juniper Research predicts one in five Americans will be using fitness trackers by 2021.

Wearable technology is also making a sizeable dent in the job front as well. According to Harris Poll, 73 percent of online adults see the benefit of wearable technology at work and 66 percent of American workers are willing to use wearables if they helped them do their job better.

From Fitness to Employee Tracking

For employers, wearables are a proactive way of tracking employees’ work habits while reducing worker injuries. Many companies are already incorporating telematics for their fleets – wearable technology for vehicles – to monitor driver behavior, track job times and improve efficiency. Amerisure is currently working with agencies and policyholders to incorporate telematics into their fleet management practices. So, using individual wearables with their employees seems like the next logical step.

When adding wearable technology to a lineup of employee safety tools, a company needs to develop a strategy that includes its immediate and long-term goals to determine how the tech fits into the bigger picture. Here are a few questions to consider before including wearables at your business:
 

• How will the data from these wearables be used within the company’s data management and protection policy?
• Are the signals from the devices reliable?
• Will the benefits of wearables be overshadowed by their potential for distraction?

How Wearables Work

Currently, Amerisure is investigating the benefits of wearables and may develop a pilot program focusing on the manufacturing and healthcare industries. The device we’re researching would use sensors to detect a worker’s movements and provide real-time feedback when potentially high-risk activities occur. When a device-wearing employee bends, lifts, twists or reaches improperly, the device will buzz to let them know. This can help a worker avoid back injuries and sends data back to the employer via a user-friendly dashboard so they can give proactive feedback to the worker for future use.

While incorporating this level of wearable technology in the workforce may take some getting used to, the benefits will soon be seen – and felt – by employers and their workers.