How to Win Acceptance of Safety Wearables in 3 Simple Steps

Wearable safety devices are revolutionizing construction — but before they can start delivering wellness and productivity benefits, they must win acceptance.

The new generation of digital tools proves that safety and privacy can coexist, as workers gain protection and insight without surrendering control of personal data. A layering approach eases wearables onto the jobsite, recognizing that people are being asked to don devices that track everything from their core temperature to their heart rate.

Acceptance emerges from logical sequencing. Long before the devices are delivered and unboxed, all stakeholders — especially the people being asked to wear them — must understand their purpose and functions.

This article explores a three-step approach to winning buy-in of safety wearables. Put the steps together, and wearables deliver on the promise of safer, healthier jobsites — and as a result, higher productivity.

Step 1. Crawl-Walk-Run Implementation

Methodical change management that eases wearables into use can overcome wariness by preparing workers to adopt the technology.

It begins with thorough understanding of the devices. Research their capabilities, impact on the full range of operations, upfront and hidden costs, and ROI.

As system selection and implementation is underway, develop relationships with every stakeholder who must and should have a say. For instance, engaging unions as early as possible can prevent them from stalling momentum. Even if they aren’t opposed to wearables, they want the opportunity to have a say in the plan and protect the interests of their members.

The IT team also requires attention. Work to align their capabilities and schedules to the new task on their worklists. Have conversations about their comfort levels with installing apps on company or personal cell phones. Help them learn the sophisticated technology behind wearables and how they differ from personal smartwatches.

Choice of format can make a difference when it’s time for rollout. People are more open to try the things they already enjoy wearing, such as smartwatches popular for their wear-it-and-forget-it usefulness.

On sites where watches create snare and entrapment hazards, chest straps, armbands, and shirts can provide the same protection, tucked discreetly under clothing and PPE.

When users get the apps for their wearables, they consent to the terms, but creating procedures for starting and stopping daily monitoring sessions adds another layer of consent. The additional step reinforces acceptance every time users make the conscious choice to opt in.

When company officials and workers have questions, device vendors have answers. They know all the objections and concerns. They should be experts in the human side of wearables as well as the technical side. To maximize the investment, look for suppliers with proven value-adds in deployment, training, and data analysis.

Step 2. Make room for champions — and naysayers.

Every company has early adopters of technologies that enhance health and safety. They buy devices for themselves or experiment with the latest apps. These early adopters can be cultivated as champions for wearables.

The champions can be the first to try the device. If management did its due diligence in finding the best fit, a pilot test should go well. The bugs are worked out, and the champion becomes a trusted voice telling colleagues how the device makes the day better.

The champion can name the sites and teams open to trying the new devices, for a head start on success. Champions can also take the lead in train-the-trainer models, streamlining adoption throughout the company and from site to site.

Chances are, skeptics also abound. Early conversations with them reaps feedback on the obstacles and roadblocks to address.

In fact, some of the most powerful champions are former skeptics, transformed by a lifesaving experience and living to tell their tales. Even the doubters who never become converts may be less likely to actively subvert the effort because someone heard them out.

Stay updated on what’s happening in construction.

Subscribe to Blueprint, Procore’s free construction newsletter, to get content from industry experts delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscribe

Step 3: Tailor learning and education.

Preparation pays off in a smooth rollout, but the job of winning acceptance continues. The best programs are built collaboratively — with workers, and not just for them. Meeting the educational, training, and distinct needs of individuals and groups paves the way for enterprise-wide adoption and ROI.

Often, the hardest-to-reach crews are those who could benefit the most from technology tailored to their health and safety. But often, language barriers, distrust, and inaccessibility stand in the way. The technology itself offers solutions, such as wearables capable of launching monitoring sessions through a QR code scan — no translation or basic literacy required.

In training, never assume that everyone is familiar with the technology. Start with the basics, making sure that every worker knows how to download an app and use a smartwatch.

Lean into the willingness of 21^st-century people to relinquish some privacy in exchange for value: For example, social media profiles that share personal information but offer social connections and one-click shopping in return. In that context, wearables can be presented as a partner for the core values of going home safely at the end of the day and staying well in mind and body.

Deliver additional value through incentives and recognition. A free smartwatch or rewards for being “caught” practicing a safe act can flip negative mindsets to positive.

Sharing the company wins, as seen in higher productivity and improved aggregate health data, adds the motivators of higher pay and steady work that come with business growth. 

Employ customizable privacy controls, empowering users to maintain control over data sharing, deletion, and anonymization settings. Adoption rises when transparency becomes tangible and workers understand what is being collected and why.

The day that safety wearables arrive on the jobsite is a milestone, but it’s only the middle of the story. Preparing for that day demands due diligence and extensive communications and collaboration.

From there, ongoing dialog and training feed into strategic goals, when use of wearables becomes second nature and the investment yields returns of higher productivity and safer workers. The future of worksite safety is about empowering them. With the right approach, wearables can build trust as well as resilience.

Written by