A tech too far?


Should there be a limit to the scope of technology, especially devices that can monitor actions and check whereabouts, as far as the cleaning and hygiene sectors are concerned, asks Essity's Liam Smith?


This year it emerged that a leading UK bank had installed software on its workplace computers to monitor staff activity. The system, which checked the productivity of the bank’s own staff in real time, also recorded their whereabouts and monitored their movements, classing visits to the toilet as ‘unaccounted activity’.


The implementation of the software has attracted much criticism from human resources experts and privacy campaigners around the country, while trade union body the TUC warned that monitoring toilet breaks and tracking staff movements could create an atmosphere of fear and distrust in the workplace.


The bank in question has now halted the trial and scrapped the scheme. But today’s increasingly sophisticated technology is making it easier than ever for companies to track our movements and keep tabs on staff.


Cleaning companies have long been using high-tech staff tracking systems designed to ensure that employees are where they are meant to be and that ‘no-shows’ can be recorded. Employers argue that these schemes are actually beneficial to staff because they help to keep them safe when working remotely.


But new technology has led to the introduction of one or two rather controversial staff-tracking systems. For example, in 2018 it emerged that a few firms in Asia were installing sensors in helmets worn by employees which could scan workers’ brainwaves and detect signs of fatigue, stress and even emotions such as anger.


16 | TECHNOLOGY


“The frequency of washroom use and supply


levels can now be checked remotely.”


In the same year, it was reported that a major online retailer was trialling a wristband that tracked the location of workers in the warehouse as they picked items to be dispatched. The system was able to read their hand movements, emitting a pulse to alert the staff member when reaching for the wrong item.


Meanwhile, technology is now being used in some washrooms to monitor the user’s health. In December 2019 two scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US came up with the idea of a smart toilet that would check the user’s urine. The scientists discovered that the


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