The Age of AI: How Construction is Leveraging New Tech to Create a Safer Workplace

We’ve all seen the enduring photograph of New Deal period building staff sitting a whole lot of ft above the streets of New York in the course of the constructing of Rockefeller Heart. The picture evokes the proud historical past and unbelievable achievements of the American building business whereas additionally serving as a stark reminder of how far we’ve come by way of our method to security and the way we shield our staff. 

Within the practically 100 years since that photograph was taken, the occupational demise fee in building declined 90% from 150-200 per 100,000 staff to 13-15 per 100,000 staff between 1940 and 2023.

Right this moment, the development business is present process one other transformation, this time pushed by expertise. As an business, all of us try to attain a zero-incident tradition to make sure everybody returns dwelling safely on the finish of the day. Key to that dedication is continually searching for methods to deploy the most recent security applied sciences, together with the protecting tools staff put on, the {hardware} we use to observe and acquire information on our jobsite, and the software program and synthetic intelligence instruments that present actual time suggestions and insights.
 
 As an government overseeing threat administration at Clayco, one of many nation’s largest building companies, I see firsthand how rising tech is reshaping our method to security. Take headwear. Even the identify has advanced from “onerous hat” to “helmet” because of developments in how protecting gear is engineered and constructed. Right this moment’s helmets are made utilizing supplies similar to Koroyd, a cutting-edge welded tube polymer materials that compresses on impression and absorbs power, a life-saving innovation that may imply the distinction between a detailed name and a catastrophic harm. 

This innovation doesn’t cease with the supplies. Right this moment’s helmets are more and more good. Many helmets at the moment are geared up with Close to Subject Communication (NFC) and TwiceMe expertise that shops a person employee’s medical information and emergency contact info that first responders can entry in seconds if wanted. Different revolutionary wearables snap to the helmet’s brim and offers staff with an S.O.S button and placement monitoring capabilities, can detect if a employee has suffered a fall or an impression to their head, and can even alert them if they’re close to a excessive voltage electrical energy supply.

As futuristic as these improvements would have appeared just some a long time in the past, different security applied sciences we presently use appear straight out of science fiction. Employees now put on exoskeletons that may make even the heaviest instruments really feel virtually weightless – dramatically bettering security and effectivity for tough overhead work by lowering the incidence of accidents associated to muscle fatigue and repetitive duties when utilizing heavy tools for lengthy intervals of time. 

Whereas wearable applied sciences assist shield staff from harm, a brand new era of automated techniques are serving to eradicate uncommon situations of human error on jobsites. For example, as we construct extra extremely technical and electricity-intensive information middle tasks, we’re more and more using autoLOTO – or computerized lockout/tagout app expertise, which automates the complicated and time-consuming technique of figuring out and disabling stay, sudden, hazardous power sources, dramatically bettering each effectivity and security.  

Expertise can be offering new capabilities to observe and implement security protocols each onsite and remotely. Drones and next-generation cameras at the moment are ubiquitous instruments on jobsites. Drone-mounted cameras or handheld gimbals present off-site security managers the flexibility to conduct distant video web site excursions to overview adherence to security protocols. 

However with upwards of 100 tasks underway nationwide at any given time, human security managers are restricted to what number of websites they’ll monitor. That’s the reason we’re creating game-changing synthetic intelligence instruments that may monitor stay video feeds and determine potential issues of safety a lot sooner and extra comprehensively than a human reviewing the footage. AI instruments will quickly be capable of determine if a employee isn’t carrying their helmet or security gloves, or flag threat areas starting from the improper placement of a ladder to a lacking hearth extinguisher. Due to machine studying capabilities, the AI instruments will get even smarter over time to rapidly flag issues of safety that may very well be missed by the human eye. 

In the end, all this info isn’t actionable when you can not acquire and analyze the information. At Clayco, we developed an in-house digital security documentation platform referred to as Work-Secure that streamlines your complete doc course of for all our staff, be it onboarding new hires, incident reporting, or information on coaching certifications. Work-Secure additionally helps us observe staff throughout a number of tasks and provides us perception into their skillset and the way we are able to greatest deploy them on a venture – placing them on stronger paths for office success and long-term progress. In the end, we are going to incorporate AI instruments with predictive analytics to enhance the methods we practice, audit, and doc all the things that goes on at our jobsites. 

We’ve got come a good distance on jobsite security since these staff ate their lunch sitting on a metal beam excessive above New York Metropolis greater than 90 years in the past, however progress doesn’t suggest we get to loosen up. Security measures should maintain evolving, identical to the instruments and applied sciences we use.  On the finish of the day, it’s not about having the flashiest gear, it’s about constructing a people-first tradition. Meaning persevering with to prioritize coaching, communication, and innovation that’s geared in direction of defending staff, not simply checking the compliance field.  

I encourage everybody in our business to maintain striving for zero-incidents by partnering with firms creating new security applied sciences and instruments whereas persevering with to rethink how we method and mitigate threat.  Each enchancment will assist us get to our shared aim of constructing certain each employee goes dwelling safely on the finish of the day.  

Todd Friis is the senior vp of threat administration at design-build building agency Clayco, the place he manages and directs Clayco’s well being and security applications.