Though the construction industry honchos and prominent businessmen may not own up to it, there is little doubt that working in the construction arena is risky and dangerous.
According to statistics, construction workers are killed on the job five times more when compared to any other workers. Each day there are around 14 workers who might be dying in the construction industry because of accidents and mishaps.
Hence there is a need to improve safety and security for workers, and while things such as
Orion Flares are worth praise and worth emulating, we also need to find out other ways to improve overall workplace security and safety.
Technology can play a significant role, and we have many construction businesses that are making use of robots, AI, and IoT (Internet of Things) for increasing the overall levels of safety in the workplace. We will try and have a look at the ways in which this is possible.
AI Can Help Prevent Unpleasant Surprises
There is no doubt that some of the worst forms of accidents in construction workplaces happen because of inadequate and insufficient visibility.
Hence, there is a need to improve visibility significantly. This could prevent sudden falls and other such accidents that account for almost 40% of deaths in the construction industry.
While total elimination of such risks might not be possible, increasing on-site visibility and making use of AI software can certainly help these surprises and resultant death and injuries.
This is because cameras supported by AI technologies provide real-time footage and also gather and analyze all the incoming data from any job site.
It could include everything from workers to the vehicles, and the good thing is that all data is an account for in real-time. Such data gives the construction managers better insights and prepares them better to anticipate something that could be potentially dangerous.
This is done with the help of an interactive dashboard. It also allows them to make much better decisions as far as employee safety and well being are concerned.
Construction managers can be proactive rather than being reactive, and this will help to have a better understanding of their planning, instruction, and training when safety walks and drills are performed.
There are some real-life research works and experiments that have been done using AI, and this has helped to identify potential areas of risk and have their remedied accordingly.
Simplification Of Tasks
We need to understand the construction sites are prone and open to risk. We need to identify the reasons for the same. The most apparent reason is that perhaps there are quite a few variables at work.
One way to mitigate and reduce the levels of risks in the construction industry is to try and ensure that minimum work is done at these sites before the actual work begins. If you are able to make intelligent use of robotics and AI, you can come out with prefabricated construction.
These allow building elements to be built in a controlled environment. These can then be transported to the site where work is going on.
This process would be able to effectively control of many possible hazards at the workplace that might creep up on any standards construction sites. It can help complete even the riskiest and most dangerous tasks without causing any risk to human life.
Increased Accountability And Transparency
When you have AI-supported equipment being used on construction sites, you can be sure that each and every stakeholder
becomes accountable to it in more ways than one. You can avoid breakdown of communication, lost paperwork and misunderstandings can become a thing of the past.
These will no longer become acceptable excuses. AI will work to correct such mishaps. When you have AI software, it will be able to analyze and track every piece of data that is inbound and that too in real-time. It also will happen round the clock.
Hence all the stakeholders will be in the loop, and they will know everything that happens positively or negatively. Further, all stakeholders will be in a position to see as to why problems arise and also find out why workers are getting injured.
Conclusion
Hence, it is quite evident that there are some unmistakable, proven, and time tested events that go to show that AI, Robots, and IoT could make a big difference to the overall safety and security standards, and it will make things better for all stakeholders in many ways.