Construction industry was one of the primary sectors in which technology had a slow impact. Moreover, its hazardous nature is a haunting threat that construction workers have been struggling to mitigate.
Reportedly, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) says that out of every five worker fatalities among the different industries, one would be from the construction field, which shows us that there is about 20% worker fatality rate in this sector.
Due to the more involvement of manual efforts and the limitation of employing technology extensively, it was difficult for the construction sector to experience early technological advantages.
However, today’s advanced and far-reaching capacity has overpowered all the weak points that the construction safety sector had encountered in the past and empowered every aspect of the construction sector as well.
Let’s check how construction tech is enhancing Jobsite safety.
IoT (Internet of Things)
The influence of IoT technology is visible in every sector that involves electronic machines and intelligent components. Hence, it has rooted its prominence in construction technology as well.
By automating data collection and scheduling maintenance activities, IoT devices play a significant role in constructing safety. It is the most critical mechanism in a construction site. Also, IoT makes way for advanced Virtual and Augmented Reality in safe construction practices.
To illustrate, an autonomous robotic machine that is operated remotely is driven by the signals triggered from and to the IoT devices. Moreover, analyzing the environment from a control room and deliver proper guidance to the workforce in a remote area has also been done by IoT devices.
An Australian tried IoT technology to improve the safety of the construction workers. They provided smart helmets that can monitor their safety and send data to the Cloud. Analyzing the day-to-day data, the supervisors could understand the frequency of injuries, heatstroke, and hazardous work practice that they have been through at their worksite.Â
In addition, IoT produces the real value of practicing safe recommendations evidently to the workers. This will reduce the tendency to overlook and iterate the mistakes and improve the safety program adoption rate considerably. However, IoT helps to get clutter-free insights directly from the worksites with wearables and machines.
Exoskeletons
Construction workers are more prone to skeletal disorders and muscular strain. Lifting heavy loads and types of equipment cause much stress all across their body. Exoskeletons help them to reduce the impact of such works and improve endurance. It acts more like the workers’ internal skeletal frame. This robotic metal suite supports them while lifting heavy tools and holding them for a long time.
Moreover, exoskeletons are used to reduce body fatigue and avoid unhealthy posture while working. It comes in two modes, electric powered and mechanical mode, designed for the purpose it serves on different occasions. In electrical power suits, the sensors collect the data and supply adequate support to the wearer. In mechanical suits, they distribute the weight across various strength sources and make the work easy.
However, these technologies are easing out difficult jobs into easier ones. Ekso Bionics is one of the companies that are taking this invention seriously and making enormous improvements in exoskeleton designs for the construction industry. There are different types of exoskeletons, such as mechanical and electro powered shoulder support, power gloves, back support, whole bodysuit, and crouching support types of equipments.
Worksite Sensors
Worksite sensors are one of the practical components that help to analyze the different conditions of a worksite. A lot of companies are employing worksite sensors to trace the work conditions of their laborers, such as temperature, chemical components, toxicity, air quality, noise level, and much more.
As workers are exposed to toxic environments such as Asbestos, Â there is a threatening rise in the construction industry’s fatality rate. A report from asbestos exposure says that 125 million people worldwide remain at risk of asbestos exposure in their industrial space.
However, the implementation of worksite sensors is broadly helping companies identify toxic substances in workplaces. These sensors work in an automated setup and are mounted all across the construction site. Some sophisticated sensors are also using artificial technologies for effective safety practices.
Hence, the prefixed software setup will collect the data and send it to the destined destination for further analysis. In this way, worksite sensors are bliss in reducing workplace hazards.
Site Survey Drones
Drones are accomplishing numerous jobs in the construction industry today. As a novice technology, drones hasn’t had anything to do with the construction sector. However, construction sites use this advanced drone technology for site surveying, structural inspections, and mapping construction growth. In addition, drones are used for monitoring worker safety all around the sites and to identify hazards.
The incredible mission that has been done by drones in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant enthralled everyone. Over that critical situation, drones led the data collection to manage the disaster. Likewise, in Mexico, a company deployed drones to inspect a 100-kilometer pipeline, usually taking two weeks to complete with manual effort. Surprisingly, the drone finished it with one hour and delivered the critical data intact. Similarly, drones are participating in practical use-cases across different occasions to safeguard workforces.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is not just a technology for the entertainment and marketing industry. Today, it got broader scope across multiple sectors, including construction. Globaldata says virtual reality is going to kick start safety training like never before. The construction sector adopted advanced technology to train their workers to handle new machine tools and perform safety procedures in emergencies.
Safety training is another area where the construction industry uses virtual reality extensively. Moreover, the workers required to work under controlled and elevated environments use these training models to get familiar with the conditions.
Many big brands use virtual reality training sessions to train their workforce. To illustrate, Walmart is conducting virtual reality training for its workers to deal with dangerous situations that they may come across.
Wearable Devices
Wearable devices are making an incredible transformation in construction safety practices. There is a wide variety of wearable technology gadgets, such as visual wearable, tactile wearables, sensing wearables, etc.
This set of wearables have a high potential to improve industrial safety practices. Hence, both hardware and software developers are thriving hard to improve these wearable devices to enhance safety practices.
In the construction industry, wearable devices are more like smart wearables with multiple use cases. It may be a clothing/equipment/sensor-enabled gadget. Also, the use of different wearables and software is mixed in the construction industry.
Some wearable will inform workers about the hazard that they are prone to. Also, it can warn them of taking dangerous movements and postures. Similarly, devices such as exoskeletons assist workers in reducing their stress during a job.
Autonomous Heavy Vehicles & Equipment
Andrew Boushie, VP of partnership and strategy at Ainstein (developer of autonomous vehicles), says that today’s autonomous vehicles are practically getting successful in hazardous construction sites, unlike the old days. Thanks to the advanced sensor technology and intelligent IoT devices.
The new sensor technologies that can detect light and range with high-resolution RADAR serve as the machine/vehicle operators’ eye to prevent collisions across their visibility range.
Also, heavy machine manufacturers such as Caterpillar and Komatsu have assembled machines that can be operated remotely. These innovations are ultimately helping workers to keep themselves away from potential harm.
Key Takeaway
As the construction industry grows to new heights, technology is aiding it with exceptional efficiency and safety practices. The latest safety measures that give many physical and mental advantages for the workers keep them efficient and equipped. However, construction technologies are increasingly contributing to enhancing worksite safety extensively.