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Article

9 Dec 2019

Author:
Joshua Brustein, Bloomberg

USA: Concerns raised that devices to prevent unsafe movements & prevent injury could be used to track productivity

"Warehouses Are Tracking Workers’ Every Muscle Movement", 5 November 2019

Jack Westley...[wears] a black device...that tracks his every move...the device...vibrates to send a warning that his chance of getting hurt is elevated...

...The device, made by...StrongArm Technologies...also sends the information it gathers...to his employer, Geodis...Geodis says the trackers could supplement existing safety programs...

Unions and researchers...worry that employers who begin gathering data on workers...will be unable to resist using it against them. Productivity tracking is already widespread throughout the industry...

...StrongArm says it has about 30 clients, including Heineken NV and Toyota Motor Corp...Walmart says it’s testing StrongArm...and adds it has no plans to use them in stores...

...StrongArm... says its products are designed solely to improve safety...It says it’s not tracking individual productivity and that its products aren’t used to punish individual workers or to contest workers compensation claims...

 ...Toyota...intended to use the products...so it could identify those who were exhibiting behavior associated with higher injury risk. But the automaker retreated from that plan...

...[Founder, Sean] Petterson says he would object to the use of his technology to punish workers and would consider restricting a client’s access to data if such a case arose...

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