A Comprehensive Survey on Smart Wearables: Real-time Health and Workplace Monitoring, Alerting, and Analysis in the Industrial Context

In industrial settings, monitoring both health and environmental variables is crucial for labor safety.  Ensuring complete safety protocols is vital in addressing the issue of dynamic work environment monitoring. Worker safety is critical in minimizing accidents, saving lives, and adhering to medical standards. By implementing security measures and offering a healthy work environment for their employees, employers can lower hazards. While substantial advancements have been made in smart wearables geared toward worker safety, a gap remains in offering holistic solutions for fostering healthier workplaces. Over the past years, there have been significant strides in devising devices aimed at supporting this cause. The aim of combining wearables, smart sensors, cloud technologies, and apps is to improve methods of handling workers and their environments, thereby elevating their overall quality of life. However, many existing devices are either cumbersome or too expensive for widespread use. This article provides an exhaustive comparative analysis of current wearable and handheld devices tailored for industrial worker safety. Subsequently emphasizes the distinctive features of these devices and undertakes a meticulous evaluation based on criteria such as power efficiency, weight, affordability, and user experience. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of incorporating smart wearable technology into existing safety standards to promote a safer and more efficient workplace. The work’s novelty lies in its comprehensive analysis of smart wearable sensor devices specifically designed for worker safety monitoring, providing insights beyond previous attempts in the literature by addressing the practical challenges and implications associated with employing such technology in real-world environments.