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16 LEXPERT | 2016/17 | WWW.LEXPERT.CA IN SEEKING TO minimize the cost of operations, reduce waste, boost productivity, improve worker and environmental safety, and in- crease returns, mining companies are looking to harness the benefits of innovative technologies. One kind of technology that mining com- panies are starting to look at implementing is the use of "wearables" in the workplace. Wearables are electronic devices that are worn on the body and ei- ther collect or convey information in order to enhance the user's expe- rience. Healthcare and fitness devices are currently the most popular options, followed by smartwatches and smartglasses, according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey (www.pwc.com/us/ en/industry/entertainment-media/assets/pwc-cis-wearables.pdf ). Although wearable technology has been gaining considerable mo- mentum in the consumer market over the past couple of years, enter- prise and industry (including resource companies) are just beginning to explore its potential applications. A key trend in recent years is companies issuing fitness devices to employees as a part of optional wellness programs. ese devices can measure activity, heart rate and other health-related data, which can be tied into health insurance policy premiums or other incentive programs to reduce healthcare costs. For example, in 2015 oil giant BP distributed more than 24,500 Fitbit fitness trackers to its North American employees as a part of such incentive programs and, accord- ing to Gartner, Inc., a leading information technology research and advisory company, by the end of this year most companies with more than 500 employees will offer fitness trackers to their workers (www. gartner.com/newsroom/id/2848817). Wearable devices can be used as more than just health trackers, and as they make inroads into business and industry they may pro- vide companies with new ways to measure and improve productivity and safety in the workplace. In higher-risk industries such as mining (where fatal workplace accidents are more prevalent) wearables can play a critical role in safety and their potential is ripe for exploration. Accordingly, current implementations of wearables in the mining industry include the delivery of critical notifications and warnings through a smartwatch or band alerting workers to potential hazards and thereby preventing accidents; two-way audio and video commu- nication devices (helmets or smartglasses) allowing a remote viewer (likely a manager or a technical specialist) to guide or train a worker through complex tasks from afar; and smarthats that measure brain activity to assess fatigue levels to better understand employee fatigue and determine when they may have an increased risk of accident. Wearables are also capable of detecting changes in the work envi- ronment such as air quality and seismic activity, enabling companies to alert employees to potential health and safety hazards. ey can also be used to evaluate equipment usage and deterioration, which then prompts companies to replace equipment before it breaks down, thereby avoiding possible safety hazards, delays and monetary losses. When combined with sensors and other technology, the potential for wearables to transform the workplace in terms of safety and effi- ciency is considerable. Imagine a completely connected miner capable of receiving notifications of safety hazards and critical events that impact when and how to proceed with operations. Imagine health monitoring, safety check-ins, automatic evacuation alerts, real-time incident reporting and management, two-way guided communica- tion, equipment monitoring and a wealth of actionable data that not only protects the health and safety of workers but also optimizes per- formance and logistics to boost the bottom line. While the benefits of these technologies are attractive, they come with certain risks. Leaving aside the efficacy of the data collected (which is only valuable when properly combined with intelligence, an- alytics and powerful back-end systems), the obvious concerns of per- formance monitoring through wearables centre around inadvertently creating an oppressive working environment with intrusive Orwellian surveillance in which employers use productivity data to justify raises, promotions and firings. Further, irresponsible use could result in un- just discrimination based on differences in a person's physical or men- tal attributes. As a result, companies will need to consider the fact that they may encounter employee resistance to such mandated policies. Ideally, these concerns could be managed through a culture of trust and transparency where workers are clearly told about how their data is being used, shared and transferred, provided with informed consent of what is being done to their data, and can rely on their employers to use the data responsibly and ethically. However, beneath the surface of these obvious concerns lies a com- plex matrix of legal issues related to data security and privacy. To a cer- tain extent, these issues mirror other enterprise tools and technologies, but given the sensitivity and volume of data collected by wearables and the fact that wearables are oen connected to back-end systems built on cloud computing, these issues are magnified. Arguably, wearables today are capable of collecting more information about an individual than any other device ever carried and this information is oen viewed as personal and sensitive in nature. e complexities of cloud comput- ing and transnational data transfer further confuse matters. Presently, Wearables in the Mining Sector: BALANCING POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND PRIVACY CONSIDERATIONS MINING COMPANIES ARE LOOKING INTO INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING ELECTRONIC DEVICES THAT ARE WORN ON THE BODY, KNOWN AS 'WEARABLES,' TO HELP PREVENT WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS BY KAREN MACMILLAN, KHALED ABDEL-BARR AND AMAAN GANGJI, LAWSON LUNDELL LLP

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