Wearables for Occupational Health

The project Wearables for Occupational health: Measuring vests for Body Parameters and Exposure and Motion started on 1 February, 2019. In cooperation with Kinetic Analysis and CBS, the research group is developing measuring vests with light sensors that can measure exposure, movement and body parameters. This project is part of the Smart Health research line of the research group Smart Sensor Systems.

The goal of the project is to use the measuring vests to create an early warning system for the prevention of acute health risks and to detect sources of potential overexposure in a working environment. The ultimate goal is to determine the effects of personal exposure relationships to better protect workers and ultimately give legislators more insight to determine exposure limits.

In 2020, Lilly Umans' graduation internship resulted in a background document about the sensor options and a first working prototype of a body vest and exposure vest. The work was also presented at the CBDS big data seminar and at two international conferences.

Objective

Developing measuring vests with light sensors for use in the workplace. Analyses of the measuring vests with sensors that can simultaneously measure exposure, movement and body parameters. This allows us to build early warning systems to prevent acute health risks, detect hotspots and sources of potential overexposure, and create personal exposure effect relationships to better protect workers. It also opens the door to more comprehensible legislation for exposure limits.

Due to the COVID crisis, measurements could not be collected and the field test will continue after the lockdown in 2021. As a result, the project has been extended until at least December 2021.

End product/intended outcomes

• Measuring vest1 - Body parameters
• Measuring vest2 - Exposure and movement
• Wireless data transmission
• Storage and visualisation on platform
• App programming
• Business case
• Testing among the population
• Applicability (usability) and quality (accuracy)
• Creating a commercial version

Project leader

John Bolte

Participating researchers

Funding by Ministry of Education, Culture & Science.

Duration

01-02-19 to 31-12-21

Funding

From CBS and the THUAS (in-kind contributions, no exchange of funds)

Partners

Kinetic Analysis, CBS, RIVM, TNO