In order to raise the safety standards of future large construction projects and mega-events, Expo 2020 Dubai is developing a new action plan. This is a large project, called “Worker Wellness Programme”, designed to measure the health of workers.
The first phase of the program started in October 2017, using wearable wellness devices with a Whoop wrist-strap for a round-the-clock measurement of the well-being of construction workers on the Expo 2020 site.
These devices collected data measurements divided into three categories: effort, sleep, and recovery. Factors such as heart rate variability, resting heart rate and automatic sleep tracking were collected, with custom reports then created to show workers their data in a weekly summary. During the program, 153,785 reports on the progress of workers were issued to participants.
In tandem, medical experts from Expo 2020’s on-site Emergency Centre carried out 1,467 preventative screenings for workers whose reports highlighted any potential underlying condition, with appropriate treatment given to those found to have a health issue.
The “ Whoop Straps ”, developed by Expo 2020 in collaboration with the American fitness tech company Whoop, which are used regularly by elite athletes around the world, have been adapted to the needs of construction workers – with a system of bespoke recharge / synchronization designed to collect data daily during lunch breaks and printed reports provided to all participants in multiple languages.
The academic results of the first phase of the Worker Wellness Programme will be published by the end of the year. A second phase will begin in 2021, using wearable wellness technology to monitor the health and wellbeing of workers during the six months of Expo 2020, which runs from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.
Elaboration by IICUAE on source Khaleej