Maintaining construction site productivity creates new normal for safety

Responding to COVID-19 restraints, like other industries, the infrastructure and construction sector rapidly adopted remote working, changing the business landscape as we kn{ow it. Perhaps the surprise was how many of us reinvented activities to adapt to this ‘new norm’, finding that we can be more productive and efficient with our time.

Many of us in the infrastructure and construction sector are grappling with the challenge of bouncing back from the pandemic with the continued goal of safe work practices to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 cases. The construction sector is working through a practical response plan by considering: How to prioritise or sequence people on sites to support productivity when there are a number of restrictions?

• The best way to inform people of site requirements and changes off-site
• Opportunities to deliver a high volume of training with a constantly changing workforce. How can we be certain that people know what to do?
• Steps to take to manage risks on-site with less people or eyes on-site
• How to support contact tracing and management should there be a positive COVID-19 case

This is on top of the typical risks associated and managed on a construction site.

One approach to site based safety challenges lies in the use of technology, underpinned by options that make the most sense to contend with on-going safety on construction sites.

There are numerous technologies to explore that would increase safety, productivity, reduce cost and enable all parts of the infrastructure supply chain to transform safety on sites. These solutions include:

Tracking devices – Supporting easy site-based contact tracing, monitoring health, driver behaviour, and instant emergency response.

Cameras or devices to detect risk - Cameras (with associated software) can be trained to identify risk, bring learning or quick response to sites such as detection of PPE (Personal Protection Equipment), automated incident monitoring (e.g. trips and falls), behaviour identification and even social distance management.

Automated risk learning – Data captured translates into safety monitoring, notification and learning that can be automated and targeted to support learning and behaviour change. Data tailored to roles, or push notifications to a range of devices, reports or dashboards so that safety management becomes real-time.

Movement analytics - This tool allows you to monitor how sites are being used or how people are moving around sites to enable safe site set up or risk identification.

Remote site inspections or management – Technology that enables people to interact with a site or people on-site without having to be on-site can completely remove site risk, improve productivity or take out cost. Tasks such as site inspections, surveys, construction progress check, briefings, and training can all be done from an office (or home office) using technology to automatically capture data or repurpose roles to support those working off site.

Immersive virtual safety training – Data helps to identify risk and focused learning in 3D interactive simulations. Whether a task is potentially hazardous, yet to exist, or remote, this training equips employees with a tool to develop, practice, and test skills in an interactive and safe environment. Simulating risk aims to make outcomes real and shift behaviour.

As we come out of COVID-19 lockdown, the opportunity is to come together as an industry to collaborate on practical technology and tools that will bring experience, data and insights together to rapidly respond to safety issues to protect the health of field employees, keep sites open and maintain project progress.