Technology for Construction Safety: Strategies to Supercharge and Scale Safety Practices

The construction industry is no stranger to the arrival of new technology, and builders are realizing its many benefits. Modernization across the industry is helping contractors streamline operations, enhance efficiency, achieve scalability and enable better decision-making. 

Considering that construction is one of the most dangerous industries, safety is an area that can especially benefit from innovation. Technology can help businesses properly manage high-risk tasks and prevent common accidents on construction sites, helping to mitigate project risks.

Let’s take a look at how technology is playing a role in transforming safety in construction.

Innovative Tech for Workers

Wearables

Wearable technology enhances workplace safety by protecting against — and even helping to prevent — incidents and injuries. 

When it comes to personal protective equipment (PPE) like helmets and respirators, new technologies are being introduced to help test, enhance and even personalize how well the equipment fits. Not only does this significantly improve the protection, but it also means workers are receiving better, more comfortable equipment, making them feel appreciated and empowered.

Other types of tech-enabled wearables like wrist or armbands have the ability to monitor physical movements and make recommendations for injury prevention.

For example, if a worker lifts incorrectly or stoops over too much, a device can emit a haptic or sound, prompting the worker to make an immediate posture correction. These wearables can also provide information on joint and lumbar flexion to help prevent strains and sprains, which is particularly beneficial for both new and aging workers.

Wearable technology can also send proximity alerts, letting workers know when they are too close to a hazardous area or warning them that a piece of heavy equipment is approaching.

Safety managers can collect data from wearables over time to analyze patterns in physical activities — helping them contribute to the overall well-being of the workforce by promoting long-term ergonomic health.

Video Analysis Tools

Similar to wearables, real-time video can assist with injury prevention and can also help to mitigate risks in hazardous conditions. 

Video tools using a tablet or phone can capture a worker's movements, allowing for immediate ergonomic intervention. This is especially helpful for repeated tasks, such as bricklaying or stonework, providing feedback on posture and movement to prevent injury.

Real-time video tools can also assist in prioritizing hazard mitigation by identifying and preventing potential safety issues. For example, video monitoring can recognize when welding is being performed in a confined space and make analyses based on the conditions. If there is a failure to run continuous air into the area, these tools can create an immediate warning, alerting workers that they need to make necessary changes for proper ventilation. By providing insights like these that are based on established safety protocols, video monitoring can guide workers to take necessary precautions and avoid common risks.

Voice-based Platforms

Some applications can record and analyze voices during sessions, such as safety meetings. Trained large language models can record a safety meeting where workers are talking through a pre-task plan. The tool can recognize the work being performed and provide feedback, such as if a relevant hazard was not discussed.

Voice-based platforms also allow safety professionals to assess the tone and sentiment of workers, determining if any person sounded nervous, too relaxed or angry. Tools can also evaluate participation levels to provide additional insight into the effectiveness of safety discussions in addition to providing an understanding of the mood and engagement levels of workers.

For those working alone or in small groups, such as climbing towers, these technologies can also offer continuous monitoring and ability to check in with a manager on the ground. Managers can actively monitor workers, and in some instances, they can also receive an alert if a signal is lost, which can provide safety support in isolated situations.

Environment & Workplace Tools

Drones and Cameras

Devices that capture progress photos and videos of construction sites can help construction leaders monitor work progress and identify potential safety hazards that could pose a risk of serious injury or fatality. Drones are also especially useful in providing surveillance in areas that might be difficult to access or monitor regularly. 

The benefits of captured footage can be extended even further when platforms use it for deeper analysis. This means safety professionals can gather patterns over time, such as unsafe equipment locations or individuals working without personal protective equipment (PPE).

Geofencing

Using geofencing to monitor workers' locations can help safety professionals ensure that their workers remain within designated safe zones and can even provide an alert if someone enters a restricted or hazardous area. 

One added benefit of geofencing is that it can also be used to take attendance during safety meetings. This way, safety professionals can avoid using the traditional paper-based process and instead, automatically record who is present by identifying workers within the meeting area.

Geofencing can be integrated with broader safety management systems, potentially tying into payroll, which provides protection against human-error in reporting work hours.

Enhanced Project Visualization

The visualization capabilities provided by building information modeling (BIM) and digital twins are helpful to construction in many ways. 

Compared to traditional flat blueprints, BIM is valuable for planning safety on a project because it provides a more dynamic, 3D visualization. This helps identify potential safety issues and project complications early in the planning stages, paving the way for safer and more efficient construction processes.

Similarly, the concept of digital twins, which involves creating a virtual replica of a jobsite, allows for the comparison and analysis of different scenarios. While primarily used for creating efficiency, digital twins also enable proactive decision-making and digital testing to aid in avoiding specific risks on a jobsite.

Robotics

Robots can survey job sites, autonomously moving around the site to take pictures, measurements and video, providing detailed data on potential hazards and safety risks. This is particularly useful after hours to provide information for preventative procedures before work begins the next day.

Safety professionals can also use robotics to automate site inspections, which is can help in gathering safety insights.

Because confined spaces create a risky environment, robotics make particular sense for tasks in these work areas. Sometimes referred to as "co-bots," robotics can collaborate on tasks by enabling workers to remotely control a robot's actions. This transforms the work into an operation that resembles video gaming. This way, workers avoid placing themselves in harm's way.

Equipment Meets Technology

IoT-enabled Tools

Many tools now come equipped with features like location tracking and usage monitoring. These technologies can help prevent theft ad well as track operating hours — providing valuable insights for maintenance schedules. 

Larger equipment like excavators can benefit from similar monitoring capabilities, which can report working hours and inspection criteria, feeding into safety management software to establish preventative maintenance schedules.

Technology can also facilitate the certification and authorization process for workers operating specific equipment. By matching workers with the equipment they are certified to use, companies can help guarantee safety and compliance. 

On the lower-tech end of the spectrum, QR codes are being increasingly used with equipment. These codes allow workers to quickly access equipment manuals, inspection forms or lockout/tagout procedures. This method makes essential information readily available and can be especially helpful for rented equipment.

Telematics

Many contractors are already using telematics platforms on their vehicles. This could include data about speed, cornering and braking. It can also include information on vehicle usage, location and efficiency. All of this information can be gathered and reported back to a safety manager or a dashboard to improve driving safety as well as vehicle inventory and efficiency.

In-cab and External Cameras

Vehicle cameras, both in cab and external, are increasingly used alongside telematics systems to enhance driving safety and provide valuable data. These cameras monitor driving incidents and behaviors, such as impairment due to drowsiness or distraction from using a cell phone. In real-time, they can alert drivers to these issues, prompting corrective actions to improve safety. This helps reduce risks and supports driver training by providing data to be used for both coaching and limiting potential liability.

Safety Management Programs

Management Platforms

Safety management platforms play a key role in integrating various data sources to help prioritize effectively. 

Mobile apps allow workers to report observations, log daily activities, conduct inspections and access safety information. By feeding this information into a comprehensive software platform, the data can be processed to highlight areas needing attention and even provide visual heat maps showing where safety managers should prioritize tasks. 

Other types of data, such as injuries, near misses and insurance claim information, can be gathered from various sources and integrated into safety technology programs.

Previously, much of this data would have been siloed, making it difficult to connect and analyze. This integration not only eliminates data silos but also transforms unstructured data into actionable insights, significantly saving time and enhancing decision-making processes.

AI Assistants

Using AI to assist with helping to create content to be used in safety training materials and curriculum can be highly effective, especially when the technology is trained on company-specific data. 

Instead of asking a generic AI tool to create a training program — which often yields unspecific results — it's important to use a safety platform with a large language model or other AI tool trained on relevant regulations and best practices. This tailored approach allows for more precise outputs.

AI assistants should be trained or configured using multiple documents, including company loss histories, OSHA regulations and equipment manuals. For example, a chatbot trained on these resources can generate customized toolbox talks or training outlines so they align with company policies and industry standards. Although it’s necessary to review the AI-generated content for accuracy, this method offers a swift way to produce relevant materials.

Safety Training Simulations

Although virtual reality (VR) offers significant potential for safety training, it remains underutilized by many companies. VR provides a safe way for workers to experience and learn from hazardous situations. By having workers fail in a controlled environment, VR training allows them to make mistakes and learn from them — creating impactful learning experiences that mimic real-life consequences. 

Considerations When Evaluating Software for Safety

Depending on the maturity level and sophistication of its business operations, each organization’s specific needs should guide the process of selecting safety software.

Perhaps an organization does not already have existing platforms from which to build, providing a blank canvas from which to start. Or, perhaps an organization has existing technology, which necessitates exploring integration capabilities of additional software, while also providing insightful information on trends and patterns that need to be addressed by new systems.

Regardless, safety leaders should start by identifying the specific improvements they aim to achieve and the risks they want to mitigate. This process does not need to be undertaken alone or in a vacuum; in fact, many software providers will assist in the process of clearly defining objectives, establishing goals and creating key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success. An organization might also consider running a test pilot as a way to evaluate software. 

Other key considerations that should be included in the consideration process are:

• Convenience and the ability to reduce time and effort
• Capability to measure improvements, such as reductions in severity and frequency of incidents
• Ease-of-use and ability to solve workers’ needs
• Potential value created in both time and cost-savings
• Average implementation and adoption time
• Time it takes to achieve the desired value

Finally, depending on the type of work an organization does, site-specific limitations may need to be considered. For example:

• Remote locations might lack connectivity to the network speed required to run the software.
• Working in oil and gas or in mines might mean those environments are unsafe for mobile phone or tablet use. 
• Computer chip manufacturing could require sterile environments that prevent devices from being brought into the workspace. 

In these instances, safety managers should consider the ability to achieve specific goals when real-time data is not available.

While exploring options, it’s easy to become overwhelmed due to the many options available. Partners and thought leaders in the industry can be tapped for additional guidance and expertise. Following leaders on platforms like LinkedIn or listening to speakers at industry events can help in finding recommendations. Meanwhile, discussions with safety professionals at similar construction organizations can yield practical insights into effective software use. 

To facilitate a successful transition and to overcome resistance to change, bringing workers early into the process is key. Bringing in the voice of the worker will help make sure problems are being identified correctly and will be addressed by a potential solution. This helps evangelize the need for technology and its many benefits, which can go a long way in enhancing user adoption.

Finally, once an organization is ready to implement new software, safety leaders will want to clearly define roles and responsibilities within the organization and designate someone to oversee the implementation plan.

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The Future of Tech and Safety

While construction has had a history of latent adoption, the industry is catching up — and quickly. As technology is helping construction businesses break down silos and increase efficiency, leaders in the space are becoming increasingly aware that fully integrated systems have significant promise. And when it comes to safety, the more connected it is — both to the workers themselves and to other relevant technologies — the more effective it becomes at helping achieve desired results.

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