Firms tag workers to improve efficiency

David Hencke
Tuesday June 7, 2005

Guardian

Workers in warehouses across Britain are being "electronically tagged"
by being asked to wear small computers to cut costs and increase the
efficient delivery of goods and food to supermarkets, a report
revealed yesterday.

New US satellite- and radio-based computer technology is turning some
workplaces into "battery farms" and creating conditions similar to
"prison surveillance", according to a report from Michael Blakemore,
professor of geography at Durham University.

The technology, introduced six months ago, is spreading rapidly, with
up to 10,000 employees using it to supply household names such as
Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Boots and Marks & Spencer.

Now trade unionists want safeguards to be introduced to protect worker
privacy.

Under the system workers are asked to wear computers on their wrists,
arms and fingers, and in some cases to put on a vest containing a
computer which instructs them where to go to collect goods from
warehouse shelves.

The system also allows su permarkets direct access to the individual's
computer so orders can be beamed from the store. The computer can also
check on whether workers are taking unauthorised breaks and work out
the shortest time a worker needs to complete a job.

Academics are worried that the system could make Britain the most
surveyed society in the world. The country already has the largest
number of street security cameras.

Martin Dodge, a researcher at the centre for advanced spatial analysis
at University College London, said: "These de vices mark the total
'disappearance of disappearance' where the employee is unable to do
anything without the machine knowing or monitoring."

(snip)

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Full article at Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5209912-111276,00.html

Cheers, Steve...

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