Construction sites are some of the most complex working environments there are. Multiple workers across multiple locations on a single job site, working with hazardous equipment, often isolated from other workers and out of sight of supervisors, combine to make safety and productivity a challenge. The traditional system of manual headcounts and time card maintenance are inefficient and burdensome. Yet knowing how many workers are present and where they are is critical to worker safety and productivity.
Triax Technologies, Inc., a company that provides technology for construction site connectivity and worker safety, has created a wearable sensor called Spot-r that solves these challenges. The Spot-r sensor device is smaller than a deck of cards and clips onto workers’ belts. The wearable device identifies fall incidents and other accidents in real-time, and allows workers to send and receive safety alerts while remaining in their work areas. The networked sensors send info to a cloud-based dashboard so that the entire job site is connected, and management and other workers can be informed if someone needs help. The Spot-r system also provides location information so that cumbersome visual checks of workers aren’t necessary. According to the Triax website, this level of visibility and data helps construction sites “proactively improve safety, protect their workers, and achieve greater productivity.” To set up the system initially, Triax technicians install a proprietary mesh network on the job site and actively monitor its location through a secure, non-GPS network that connects only to active work site zones, protecting the off-site privacy of workers. The cloud-based dashboard lets on-site supervisors and off-site management see and analyze construction operations in real-time. Safety and productivity data can then be aggregated and used to improve operations and to produce custom reports to share with company stakeholders. Triax recently announced that its Spot-r system will be implemented at Lettire Construction Corp. jobsites in New York City, the first New York City contractor to implement the system.
Connected digital worksite visibility will improve communication and safety, reduce accidents and costly work stoppages, and improve productivity. With this technological advance in work site safety, similar to one we’ve written about before, there may come a day when a construction site is a no more dangerous place to work than your average, everyday office environment.
