Workplace fatigue costing $130 billion in lost productivity
Published January 4, 2019 This content is archived.
A story on iHeart Radio interviews Lora Cavuoto, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering, about her research that shows the value of wearable technology in the workplace, which can be used to monitor fatigue levels to reduce injuries and increase productivity, and could help prevent as much as $130 billion per year in health-related productivity losses.
“You might have a little back pain or injury from extended standing or heavy physical work that results in fatigue. You may also have slowed reaction time when fatigued, which can lead to accidents,” she said. “Providing enough breaks for the body to recover and allowing for some variation in movement and posture to offload the demand to other parts of the body so that you’re not always loading the same muscles throughout the day.”
Articles on Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Environment also interview Cavuoto about concerns employers must address before asking workers to wear motion monitors as part of safety programs, including assurances that the findings won’t be used in performance reviews. “Generally, the No. 1 concern is privacy,” she said.
