Cultivating on-site safety awareness by leveraging technology

What actually is at stake

In the USA alone, utility strikes may cause costs of over $40 billion a year. And that only applies to what happens beneath the ground. Considering all kinds of damage to existing infrastructures that occur during construction work can make one’s head spin.

Every business wants to avoid unnecessary expenses to stay financially healthy. In the world of construction, keeping costs in check is especially vital. But when it comes to safety, it is not only about scorched money. The real concern applies to the people under the hard hats as the construction industry remains one of the riskiest sectors globally, with high rates of fatalities and injuries.

Construction workers are three times more likely to be killed and twice as likely to be injured compared to workers in other occupations. That means during a 45-year career, a construction worker has over 50 % risk of experiencing a disabling injury and a 1-in-2000 chance of being fatally injured on the job. These sobering statistics remind us that safety must be the top priority. Both from a humanitarian and economic point of view, as construction injuries cost nearly twice as much as in other industries.

Technology is the key to site safety culture

By understanding the importance of safety, we can accelerate a culture that prioritises it. Therefore, regular safety training sessions, hazard identification programs, and tool-specific training are mandatory for all personnel on a construction site. Furthermore, it is vital to adapt to the changing world. Over the past decade, digital solutions such as machine control technologies have made operations more accurate, efficient, and sustainable. They also increasingly become a platform for safety awareness solutions directly in the cab. The displayed information gives machine operators a better understanding of their surroundings and can prevent machine-to-people, machine-to-machine, and machine-to-object collisions.

With accurate positioning and measurement of sites, capturing relevant data starts early and continues throughout the project life cycle. The right distances and volumes are essential for construction safety as the information will define later operations through the design model. Reality capture technologies provide fast access to accurate and holistic digital replications of the actual site conditions. Capturing the data with autonomous laser scanners such as the Leica BLK2FLY additionally minimises risks for construction surveyors as climbing on stockpiles or into excavation pits becomes obsolete. To avoid cutting fibre cables or pipelines, the site conditions must be determined for future above-ground and in-ground operations. Modern utility detection radar systems uncover hidden safety hazards and help avoid major incidents.

As part of Hexagon, Leica Geosystems is a global leader in sensors, software, and autonomous solutions and has over 200 years of experience in measurement and survey. Based on this expertise, we have developed a whole solutions portfolio to increase safety awareness on construction sites. Focusing on heavy equipment and moving vehicles, we tackle one of the industry’s most significant hazards, as struck-by incidents consistently rank among the top causes of fatalities in construction.

Protecting people, equipment, and assets with technology

Data-based insights increase safety awareness

Adopting the technology and frequent training helps pedestrians, machine operators, and office personnel to increase safety awareness on-site and minimise incidents. The Leica ConX Safety Awareness Module uses the existing Leica ConX cloud infrastructure to collect data and alerts generated from the Leica iCON PA10, iCON PA80, and CAS solutions. Site managers have a complete overview of incidents and potential incidents. Measuring and analysing the data will further improve the level of safety over time as it helps to avoid similar situations in the future.

Data can be filtered and exported by event, equipment type, specific machine, and event danger level. Additionally, the module visualises the selected data on a heatmap, making it easy for safety managers to identify elevated risk areas – or even specific machines at substantial risk.

To enhance office-to-field communications, office personnel can send SOS alerts to all MC1 software users, selected users, or specific machine operators. This way, field crews can be informed about anticipated events that might affect their work or on-site emergencies, like fires, chemical spills, and severe weather. The recipients must acknowledge the notification, which helps identify units that might still be in danger and make quick decisions concerning further actions.

Prevention is better than cure

In this dynamic environment, prevention is certainly better than cure. One of the biggest challenges in overseeing health and safety on a jobsite is the lack of awareness of what is happening on site. While near misses and potential incidents are unlikely to be reported, preventative action can only be taken by knowing about them.

Industry leads and authorities are responsible for cultivating safety awareness and taking appropriate actions. Technology can help mitigate risks and protect human lives, equipment, and assets. It even goes beyond physical safety. Providing peace of mind addresses the psychological aspect of workers’ well-being, fostering a positive work environment and promoting a sense of security and confidence in their daily tasks.

While construction workers benefit from a better perception of their surroundings, office staff are enabled to further improve conditions based on data from real-life situations. Prioritising these aspects enhances safety and job satisfaction, drives productivity, and promotes sustainability by minimising accidents, reducing downtime, and optimising resource utilisation.

Brad Mullis 

Brad Mullis is Product Manager at Hexagon’s Machine Control division. In this role, he is responsible for driving the product development of Leica Geosystems’ Safety Awareness portfolio, bringing technology to the heavy construction industry that plays an active role in improving productivity and reducing risk and incidents. Mullis joined Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, in 2018 as a Product Specialist and progressed to Product Management in 2020. In previous roles as Contracts Manager and Site Agent for well-respected South African construction firms specializing in urban civils, roading, bulk earthworks & services respectively. Mullis was trained and mentored in Civil Engineering & Construction Management as an apprentice with Elco Asphalters in conjunction with Durban University of Technology in South Africa.