Blockchain-based Model for Monitoring Employees’ Vital Signs

What is it about?

The rapid adoption of wearable devices for monitoring employees’ vital signs in industrial and high-risk environments raises new challenges regarding data security, privacy and trust. Traditional centralized monitoring systems are prone to vulnerabilities, lack transparency and often fail to guarantee meaningful employee consent. This paper proposes a blockchain-based model that integrates wearable devices, Bluetooth Low Energy communication and Hyperledger Fabric to ensure secure, transparent and auditable management of physiological data. The model leverages BLE to provide energy-efficient, real-time data transmission, while Hyperledger Fabric enables immutable and permissioned storage, smart contract-based automation and controlled data access for stakeholders such as safety managers, medical staff and insurers. A two-channel topology is introduced to optimize data handling by separating early-warning threshold events from detailed emergency medical records, thereby reducing unnecessary storage of sensitive information. Through this architecture, the proposed system addresses major barriers such as data reliability and minimizes the risks of arbitrary usage and misuse of personal information.

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Why is it important?

With the advent of wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, an increasing number of organizations are implementing employee vital sign monitoring (heart rate, oxygen saturation, physical activity, temperature) to enhance safety, workplace conditions and productivity. Data collected from wearables is utilized in corporate wellness programs and occupational injury prevention initiatives. In high-risk work environments (e.g., industrial settings), such monitoring can detect early signs of physiological stress and help prevent accidents. Despite the potential benefits, significant concerns arise regarding personal data protection and employee trust. Employers may misuse information obtained from wearable devices. For example, by making decisions based on heart rate data or physical activity. Such practices could be construed as a form of medical examination without legitimate justification and may lead to discriminatory outcomes. Moreover, employee consent is often superficial or incomplete, commonly referred to as “meaningless consent” and frequently falls short of the FRIES (Freely given, Reversible, Informed, Enthusiastic, Specific) standard for informed and meaningful consent. From a technical standpoint, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication is vulnerable to traffic analysis attacks, in which even encrypted metadata may reveal patterns of activity and behavior habits of the employee.

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