How Is Technology Helping in Reducing Risks Involved in the Construction Industry

How Is Technology Helping in Reducing Risks Involved in the Construction Industry

The construction business is considered one of the riskiest businesses in terms of safety. In fact, almost 900 workers lose their lives per year due to various incidents in the industry.

Some of the major risks associated with working in a construction business include working at heights, dealing with electricity, doing an underground job, and dealing with hazardous metals and other such objects.

These can cause injuries, deaths or industrial diseases such as breathing problems, cancers and whatnot.

Despite using safety gear, the damage is sometimes so raw and inevitable that not much can be done for the worker.

However, engineers, scientists and the government is working hard to make the industry safer to work in. Technology plays a vital role here as it has helped make the job easier.

Let’s find out more about how technology is helping reduce the risks in the construction industry.

1.Exoskeletons

This might not look like the Iron Man suit but it does offer tremendous strength and safety to workers who wear it.

Exoskeletons are metallic frames that contain motorized muscles to enhance the person’s strength who wears it. Moreover, it also protects the body from sustaining too much stress from any physical activity.

One can wear it when dealing with challenging tasks, such as installing a clamp on flow meter.

These suits are also used by workers in the industry to move heavy objects such as pallets, concrete blocks, etc., without any trouble.

Commonly, heavy objects are either moved by workers as a collective group or with the help of a machine. There is a risk in both.

Heavy pushing, pulling and carrying exerts a tremendous amount of stress on the muscles and bones. It is one of the major reasons why construction workers often suffer from spinal issues and sustain injuries, too.

Then comes the less risky way of moving heavy objects which is through machines like cranes, forklifts, etc. These put the people at risk who are working within the vicinity of the machine.

For example, a crane moving a heavy cargo can fall due to a fault in the crane or a poor grip and injure a person standing nearby.

The exoskeleton is a modern technology that has become quite popular in the construction industry. According to reports, the exoskeleton market was $68 million in 2014 and is expected to reach $1.8 billion by 2025. As of 2018, many suits have been sold to construction industries.

These are contributing a lot in minimizing risk by ensuring that heavy objects don’t put a lot of strain on the bodies of workers who perform heavy loading.

2. Wearable Equipment

Construction sites are full of hazardous materials including gases. A lot of workers fall ill, get injured or even die when exposed to these gases.

A simple way to avoid being exposed to gases and a harmful environment is by monitoring the area before entering. A good option is to turn to gas detectors.

Modern wearables such as gas detectors can display the concentration of a gas (advanced detector) while the basic ones can tell you of their presence. This will help workers know which area to avoid.

Wearable equipment also helps in performing safety zone mapping and alerting workers about the temperature of the zone as well. Thanks to such devices, workers won’t enter hot zones without proper preparations.

3. Drones

There are many situations when sending a human worker at a site can be a huge risk. For example, when you destroy a building to build a new one, you have to deal with faulty electrical lines that can be hazardous.

Faulty electrical lines are quite common at construction sites and they kill more than 500 workers per year by electrocuting them.

Again, technology has reduced the number of deaths from such incidents thanks to the invention of drones.

Drones can survey a site from mid-air and send a live feed to the computer. Moreover, drones can be equipped with FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) to detect heat signatures. These readings can be used to determine if there are faulty lines in the area or not. Moreover, drones can also be used for mapping and other jobs that can take a lot of time when done manually.

With images from drones in hand, it gets easier to make the next plan. Such drones are expensive but they are a need especially due to their benefits.

4. Mobile Phones

It may come as a surprise but yes, mobile phones, too, help in reducing safety risks if used in the right way. It’s true that mobile phones are a major reason for distractions when working on a site but there are many safety apps that can help workers handle things well.

There are certain apps that can detect heat signatures and vital signs of a person.

OSHA has created laws for workers in different industries including the construction industry. These laws are meant to avoid incidents by setting up work conditions that every worker has to follow. They include safety gear information, how to deal when working at a height, how to deal with chemicals, etc.

However, OSHA requirements are often neglected because many workers don’t know about them largely because the company doesn’t educate its employees about such requirements. Often even companies are not fully aware of laws and requirements.

There are many apps that can display OSHA requirements and provide a complete list of gear needed for a job with details on how to work in a risky environment.

So, mobile phones can actually help, too, if used in the right manner. One, however, should never indulge in calls and texting while at work.

5. Autonomous Vehicles

Construction industry involves the use of many vehicles to get the job done, however, manual handling can be dangerous sometimes. Accidents and injuries are common.

They can be avoided by opting for autonomous vehicles. These vehicles are remotely operated from a distance and the driver doesn’t have to be in the vehicle. Yes, they are quite like robots and many industries are already making use of such vehicles to move cargo, lift heavy objects, etc. This has drastically reduced the number of casualties associated with vehicles.

Conclusion

Some of the mentioned technologies sure are new and haven’t been adopted by many companies but they are gradually being accepted.