Field Use of Physiological Status Monitoring (PSM) to Identify Construction Workers' Physiologically Acceptable Bounds and Heart Rate Zones

The construction environment affects workers' physical responses as well as individual and crew-level performance. Previous research has analyzed the relationship between worker performance and severe environments. This paper reports initial results and a process for establishing reliable, physiologically acceptable bounds and heart rate (HR) zones for construction workers. Five workers at the same building jobsite agreed to wear a Physiological Status Monitoring (PSM) system for several days while at work. HR data were collected to identify physiologically acceptable bounds and HR zones as practical threshold-based guidelines in construction. Since HR is affected by various external variables, daily video recordings and weather data were also collected and used to explain results.