Wearable Technology for Noise, Dust, Vibration Monitoring to Reduce Health Costs in Construction

建筑业被认为是一个危险的行业，但虽然坠落和机械事故的死亡率一直在下降，但工人死于疾病的可能性仍然是建筑行业事故的100倍。例如，接触灰尘是一种常见的危害，可导致呼吸系统疾病，如职业性哮喘和矽肺病。大多数人都熟悉石棉的危害，但长时间接触许多建筑材料中发现的二氧化硅也会导致肺癌和过早死亡。健康监测通常用于检测接触的影响，但不可挽回的损害可能已经造成。现有的各种化学（如粉尘和蒸气）和物理因素（如噪音和振动）的监测设备对雇员来说是负担，对需要专业人员的雇主来说是耗时和昂贵的。可穿戴技术作为一种潜在的实时监控解决方案正在加快步伐，它可以提醒工人和他们的主管注意潜在的暴露。这将使干预措施和缓解措施得以实施，从而改善健康结果、提高生产力并减少健康不良的成本。然而，像许多新想法一样，在像Casella这样的制造商能够证明他们的开发资金是合理的之前，市场必须经过测试，所以这个项目的目的是提供一份市场证明报告，这将有助于制定商业案例。

Construction is considered a dangerous industry but whilst the death rate from falls and machinery has been reducing, workers are still 100 times more likely to die from ill health than an accident in the construction sector. Exposure to dust for example is a common hazard that can lead to respiratory diseases such as occupational asthma and silicosis. Most people are fimiliar with the dangers of asbestos but prolonged exposure to the silica found in many construction materials can also lead to lung cancers and premature death. Health surveillance is often used to detect the effects of exposure but irreprable damage may have already been done. Existing monitoring equipment for a variety of chemical (e.g. dusts and vapours) and physical agents (e.g. noise and vibration) is burdensome for the employee and time consuming and expensive for the employer requiring specialist personnel. Wearable technology as a potential solution for monitoring in real-time is gathering pace which could alert workers and their supervisors to potential exposure. This will allow interventions and mitigation to take place thus improving health outcomes, productivity and a reduction in the costs of ill health. However, like many new ideas the market has to be tested before manufacturers like Casella can justify spending their development money and so this project is intended to deliver a proof of market report that will help make a business case.