The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Recommended Practices for Safety & Health Programs in Construction provides a recommendation about hazard prevention and control: “Review new technologies for their potential to be more protective, more reliable, or less costly.”¹ This recommendation is no surprise to the companies that provide such new technologies that, in turn, provide comprehensive data to contractors — and frequently see how the analysis of this data can mitigate a number of risks.

Implementing these technologies is not only good practice, but insurance companies (and some regulatory agencies) are also beginning to require reporting on leading risk indicators to save lives. It’s critical for safety professionals to be aware of technology solutions and know how to leverage the data provided to not only improve safety and risk mitigation in the field, but also to gain unexpected value in other business areas. This article discusses how these solutions affect safety and risk, different kinds of construction risks, and how technology can help mitigate those risks.

Technologies Affecting Safety & Risk in Construction

Technology is broad; everything from phones to the latest Caterpillar equipment can fall into the technology bucket for construction. For example:

• Building information modeling (BIM) creates digital representations of buildings, allowing stakeholders to collaborate and detect potential safety risks before construction begins.
• Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are used for site surveying, progress monitoring, and inspections. Drones can access hard-to-reach areas, enhancing safety by reducing the need for workers to physically inspect hazardous locations.
• Internet of things (IoT) devices can be added to equipment and materials on construction sites to monitor location and use. Real-time data collection and analysis help to identify potential safety hazards and mitigate risks.
• Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies are employed for safety training, site planning, and simulations. They allow workers to practice tasks in a virtual environment, identify potential hazards, and develop safe procedures before executing them in the real world.
• Wearable technology such as smart helmets, vests, and sensors are used to monitor workers’ vital signs, track their locations, detect falls, or alert them to potential dangers. These devices enhance safety by providing early warnings and promoting proactive safety measures.
• Automated construction equipment and robots can perform tasks that pose risks to human workers such as heavy lifting or working at heights. Robotics can reduce the chances of accidents, injuries, and human errors, enhancing safety on construction sites.
• Mobile applications and construction software enable efficient communication, document management, and task tracking. They help in sharing critical safety information, managing safety protocols, and maintaining compliance with regulations. Combine these with IoT devices for a thorough, hands-off way to have a bird’s eye view of the safety of entire construction sites.
• Predictive analytics and machine learning technologies analyze historical data to identify patterns, predict potential risks, and suggest proactive safety measures. By leveraging data, construction companies can anticipate hazards, implement preventive actions, and continuously improve safety practices. Many mobile apps and construction software systems use predictive analytics to highlight trends.

In particular, let’s focus on how IoT and software solutions can make an enormous difference in not only mitigating risk, but also identifying solutions and ways to improve and grow the business.

Addressing Construction Risks With Technology

Construction companies do not have the option to decide between safety and success. Put another way, no decision can be made that may result in profit growth at the expense of safety considerations. Construction companies need to be safe while also striving to be great — and the risks they face are many.

Safety

Human safety is the biggest risk in construction. According to OSHA statistics, 4,764 workers died on the job in 2020. Workers in transportation and material moving occupations and construction and extraction occupations accounted for nearly half of all fatal occupational injuries (47.4%), representing 1,282 and 976 workplace deaths, respectively. For construction specifically, the most frequently violated standards resulting in injuries and death were fall protection, ladders, scaffolding issues, fall protection training, and eye and face protection.²

Aside from the human factor, risks to construction companies can be legal, regulatory, and financial.

How Technology Helps Mitigate Risk

The human side of construction safety is simple to quantify — everyone wants to keep their workers safe. Faced with the emotional toll of safety mishaps, it can be hard to address financial and legal concerns, but they are also important to mitigate. Companies mired in financial hardship are prone to cutting corners or laying off labor, which makes their remaining employees even more vulnerable to safety issues. The proper use of technology can help solve these problems.

Start with inspections. Recall that, according to OSHA, the most frequently violated safety standards resulting in injuries and death included scaffolding issues and the lack of safety gear. Field productivity and asset management systems often include inspection protocols for equipment and vehicles that can be mandated before use.

These inspections can often be customized to account for known issues within a specific company (e.g., crews leaving behind safety gear) or to document adherence to practices mandated by government regulations or insurance policies. Properly conducted inspections have several benefits for safety and compliance as well as cost savings:

• Ensuring that vehicles and equipment are in proper working order before use
• Notifying shop or safety managers if inspections are skipped
• Requiring photos or scans to document the inspection for insurance or regulatory officials
• Identifying maintenance needs early to avoid downtime, replacement part shortages, and more costly emergency repairs

A combination of software and hardware technology can also be used in innovative ways. For example, many inspection solutions use QR tags to easily scan required inspection points on an asset.

A solution like QR tags can also be used to ensure the correct equipment for a particular job or crew. With the increase in workforce diversity, as of August 2022, 14% of all construction workers are women.³ However, most personal protective equipment (PPE) for construction workers is designed for the average man and may not provide the same level of protection for female workers.⁴

With the lack of appropriately designed PPE for women and an increase in female construction workers, QR tags can be applied to emergency supplies on a vehicle and scanned as part of the inspection. The safety manager can review these inspections and confirm that the appropriate PPE was included for crews with female members.

GPS location data, geofences, and after-hours alerts are all standard features of construction technology that can protect employees and the company from liability. In the event of a natural disaster such as a tornado or earthquake, current location data for assets, sites, and assigned crews can help quickly identify who is at risk.

Enter/exit alerts for geofences or ignition/powered-on alerts for vehicles or equipment can mitigate liability for employees and the company if assets are being used after hours or at incorrect locations. For example, if an employee files a workers’ comp claim for an injury incurred while using a piece of equipment, utilization and location data may show that the employee was using the equipment after-hours for a personal project without permission, ultimately removing the company’s responsibility.