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Are you Ready to be Monitored at Construction Sites? A State-of-the-Art Review of Real-Time Employee Monitoring Technologies Adoption from Legal, Ethical and Behavioural Perspectives


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15866/irea.v11i6.23881

Abstract


Real-time Employee Monitoring Technologies (REMTs) are tools for creating smart construction project environments and improving workplace safety and productivity. Previous studies have concentrated on advanced monitoring technologies applied at construction sites. However, the industry is still hesitant to adopt technologies. In addition, many issues and concerns for REMTs adoption are largely unexplored, and construction organisations and technology promoters do not fully understand their social responsibilities in the implementation process. This paper conducts a systematic literature review for identifying and analysing the benefits and concerns of monitoring at construction sites. Sixty-three selected articles were categorised into six research directions to explore feasible monitoring applications, monitoring benefits, workers’ mental health and well-being, employment relationships, ethical impact, and privacy issues of using REMTs in construction projects. The review breaks ground by establishing the relationships between REMT applications and their benefits and mapping the beneficiaries with associated REMTs. Three major concerns and ten sub-clusters were identified as; (1) Legal: Privacy Intrusion, Employment Relations, and Compliance Liability; (2) Ethical: Scope, Quality, Standards and Function of Monitoring; and (3) Behavioural: Trust, Work Behaviours and Mental Health and Well-being. The research found that privacy regulation and ethical standards play a critical role in adopting REMTs in the construction sector. Accordingly, a checklist for practical implications and a baseline for ethics in REMT adoption has been recommended. This study guides the construction organisations in responsibly adopting REMTs, and considers the organisational culture, privacy management, data ethics, benefits sharing and trust management.
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Keywords


Monitoring Technologies; Ethical and Behaviour Concerns; Workers Benefits; Social Responsibilities; Systematic Review

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