Five Guidelines for Adopting Smartwatches in Construction: A Novel Approach for Understanding Workers’ Efficiency Based on Travelled Distances and Locations

Cristina Toca Pérez, Stephanie Salling and Søren Wandahl
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Cristina Toca Pérez: Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Stephanie Salling: Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Søren Wandahl: Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-33

Abstract: This study is part of an ongoing research project aiming to develop a method for understanding workers’ efficiency (workers’ time spent in value-adding activities) by measuring new indexes, such as workers’ travelled distances and workers’ locations collected by smartwatches. To achieve the objective of the study, a Design Science Research (DSR) strategy was adopted. The first cycle consists of understanding which types of information smartwatches can collect and how this data can be employed for measuring workers’ efficiency. This paper reports a case study as part of the first Cycle of the DSR. The object studied were the activities carried out by a carpenter trade in a housing renovation project. The authors used the geographic coordinates obtained by smartwatches worn by the carpenter trade connected to two Global Navigations Satellite Systems. The primary contribution of this research consists of proposing a set of five guidelines for the application of smartwatches, using data gathered from the case study. The guidelines are: (1) adopt a stratified sampling approach for selecting the workers involved according to their tasks conducted; (2) set up the smartwatches considering workers’ physical features; (3) carefully consider the job site location for delivering the smartwatch to workers; (4) establish assumptions for the data cleaning process regarding construction project features and the study’s goal; and (5) use individual participant data in the analysis according to each participant’s characteristics and role.

Keywords: construction site; transportation activities; travelled distance; smartwatch (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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