Personal protective equipment, driving regulations, awareness of good practices and the safe layout of work areas are now mainly integrated by construction companies and have made it possible to reduce the number of accidents on construction sites. . Yet the figures remain dramatically staggering: in 2023, it is estimated that one person will die every day due to a work accident in construction in France; and each year, around 90.000 work accidents on construction sites are reported.
However, there is another lever for strengthening security, which organizations do not necessarily think about: digital technology. Although not palpable, it can help save lives and prevent avoidable accidents. The latest report from the Observatory of Innovation Trends in the Construction Industry places safety on the podium of the determining elements (alongside productivity and quality) where the contributions of digital technology are the most impactful.
When we think of digital or digitalization in construction, at first glance, we think of performance and engineering: drawing up plans, calculating measurements, simulations, etc. And not physical safety of people. So how can digital be a strong element in the security policy of construction companies?
Digitizing construction assets: bringing the virtual to the physical world
It is only because construction assets will be digitalized that security on sites will be strengthened. What does this mean in practice?
On a construction site, there are multiple varieties of assets: vehicles, cranes, shovels, backhoes, loaders, graders, dumpers, backhoe loaders, composting machines, handling carts, leveling, surveying or even drilling machines, compactors , machine carriers, dozers, etc. Whether they are motorized or not, they can be equipped with probes and sensors which will make it possible to know where this or that equipment is located thanks to geolocation, to optimize their availability thanks to the implementation of predictive or planned maintenance, or even improve their energy consumption. This already represents a serious asset for the continuity of a project and compliance with deadlines.
But these machines also raise a question of safety, both for the people who use them and for those who are nearby when they are in operation. The fact that they are digitized will provide a first level of security since the company knows their “state of health” in real time. The next step is to equip them with connected cameras. We are talking here about on-board cameras or dashcams.
On-board cameras, real allies for personal safety
On-board cameras are becoming more and more commonplace in the transport and logistics sector. The construction sector has a lot to gain by integrating them in turn. Because with the support of these dashcams, digital technology makes it possible to go even further in terms of optimizing the performance of construction equipment and their energy consumption, but also in terms of improving the physical safety of workers.
Indeed, the principle of these cameras is to film both indoors and outdoors. The objective: to detect incidents in real time (distraction, risky driving, human presence nearby, etc.) in order to warn the driver and thus avoid any possible accident. Increasingly using artificial intelligence, these cameras can alert the driver in the event of risk thanks to real-time data analysis and machine learning.
Like sensors, on-board cameras are connected to the company's back office. Their deployment can therefore raise resistance from workers who can easily think that these installations are a pretext to monitor them during their working time. Far from this idea of “coping”, such on-board cameras guarantee the protection of the privacy of the driver and people outside the vehicles, in particular thanks to the principles of facial blurring and the anonymization of data. Awareness-raising actions to make it clear that they are used in the interests of workers and to justify their presence may then be necessary.
Company reputation at stake
Ensuring the safety of its workers on its sites is a real daily challenge for construction companies. Undeniably because lives are at stake. And because their reputation and image can also be, rightly, strongly impacted.
A construction site where an accident occurs is often associated with a negligent company or one that prioritizes profit over the safety of its workers. Conversely, a company that allocates all possible resources to ensure this security derives positive effects in terms of image.
These different issues are well understood by the largest organizations in this industry. A trend in this regard is increasingly being observed: major contractors on construction sites are directly equipping their subcontractors with these on-board cameras.
Digital technology and artificial intelligence in construction are real partners for both workers and companies: performance, sustainability but also and above all safety. The construction industry can become a much safer industry thanks to digital technology and, in a world where societal issues have a direct impact on their business, companies implementing available technologies to maximize the safety of their employees will clearly to distinguish oneself.
Tribune by Gaël Peron, Regional Sales Director at Samsara France (LinkedIn).