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

TY - JOUR

T1 - Five Guidelines for Adopting Smartwatches in Construction

T2 - A Novel Approach for Understanding Workers’ Efficiency Based on Travelled Distances and Locations

AU - Perez, Cristina Toca

AU - Salling, Stephanie

AU - Wandahl, Søren

PY - 2022/7

Y1 - 2022/7

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - construction site

KW - smartwatch

KW - transportation activities

KW - travelled distance

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136430972&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/su14148875

DO - 10.3390/su14148875

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2071-1050

VL - 14

JO - Sustainability

JF - Sustainability

IS - 14

M1 - 8875

ER -