OM in the News: Warehouses Are Tracking Workers’ Every Muscle Movement

Every morning when he goes to work in the freezer room of a warehouse in Pennsylvania, Jack Westley throws on  a new piece of equipment to wear, which he attaches to a harness over his shoulders. It’s a black device about the size of a smartphone that tracks his every move. For Westley, work means a full day of carrying boxes as ice slowly forms in his beard. The freezer is a treacherous areas because workers get sloppy when they’re cold. So each time Westley bends too deeply to pick up a box or twists too far to set one down, the device on his chest vibrates to send a warning that his chance of getting hurt is elevated. The device, made by a startup called StrongArm Technologies also sends the information it gathers about Westley to his employer.

“Wearable safety trackers are changing how warehouses handle employee safety, but some are concerned about potential surveillance applications,” reports New Equipment Digest (Nov. 11, 2019). The trackers could supplement existing safety programs by identifying employees who need extra coaching, while also helping single out locations in its operations that should be redesigned to reduce the chances of injury.

Unions worry that employers who begin gathering data on workers for whatever reason will be unable to resist using it against them. Productivity tracking is already widespread throughout the industry—and workers can be fired or punished if their performance dips. The opacity of data-analysis tools can make it difficult for workers to fully understand how much employers can see.

StrongArm acknowledges that concerns about workplace surveillance surround its work, but the company says its products are designed solely to improve safety and found users wearing them suffered 20% to 50% fewer injuries.

Classroom discussion questions:

1. In this age of ever less privacy, where should the line be drawn? What do you consider a legitimate inquiry about your physical activity?
2. The warehouse management has an obligation for a safe working environment. What should they (and their insurance company) consider legitimate data?