Page 28 - OHS, March 2022

CONSTRUCTION SAFETY
How Digital Transformation Reduces Safety Risks on Jobsites
Safety is often compartmentalized.
DBY DAVID WARD
igital transformation is changing how safety is managed on jobsites. If the term digital transformation is familiar, but not clear, here is a refresher. Digital transformation is about using technology to improve business processes,
company culture and customer experiences. Extending this to safety, digital transformation also reduces risks and compliance costs and improves productivity. It does this by streamlining and/ or eliminating time-consuming processes and administrative tasks, identifying potential safety risks at the office or jobsite and providing the data and insight necessary for general contractors to make more strategic decisions about their business and each construction project.
While safety has always been the top priority in construction, it is often compartmentalized. Digital transformation can help empowers everybody on the jobsite to play a more active role in ensuring safety. Digital transformation does not eliminate the need for a safety officer, although it will reduce the overall workload. Rather, it highlights how technology can make it easier to prioritize and follow safety guidelines, especially onsite, further reducing risks while raising profits.
Obstacles Holding Back Digital Transformation
The benefits of digital transformation have been proven across many industries, yet construction is among the last to adopt it. That is not to say the industry is not aware of the proliferation of new technology on jobsites. Just look at the rise in innovative solutions such as digital apps, jobsite management platforms, virtual reality, robots, sensors and drones all contributing to the creation of the connected jobsite. Yet, not every new technology leads to a company’s digital transformation.
While digital transformation holds a lot of promise for construction, here are some of the most common obstacles and how to address them.
Lack of strategy. Any investment in technology must map to the company’s larger goals. Most contractors acquired software to solve particular, narrow, point-wise problems. The result is a large portfolio of technology solutions that don’t talk to each other, don’t share data, or duplicate each other. This makes more work, increases costs and is counter to achieving the benefits of digital transformation. Some frustrated GCs are even exploring scrapping their entire IT portfolio and starting from scratch. Contractors need a plan that builds to a digital platform and eliminates duplication. Don’t purchase any technology that doesn’t support the plan or obfuscates your view into the business.
Cost. Along with the upfront cost of the technology, you also need to factor in hidden costs including employee training and ongoing maintenance. Before you buy, find out if you’ll have to hire additional staff or add more work to your IT resource. When determining the actual cost, you also need to analyze the savings gained through more efficient processes, greater productivity and fewer risks, all resulting in more profitable construction projects.
Ease of use. While every technology vendor touts ease of use, 24 Occupational Health & Safety | MARCH 2022
employees need to be able to quickly master the solution and actually enjoy using it. If workers find the technology difficult to use, they will abandon it. If management doesn’t see an immediate ROI, they will drop the technology. The standard should be “consumer usable,” not like complex back-office enterprise apps requiring weeks of training. Ease of use means you’ll realize value faster. Complexity and insistence on rarely used features that will cost you in the long run.
The technologies driving digital transformation should be easy to use, affordable, deliver a quick ROI and work with other technologies in your company. Make sure they present a big picture view of the business and allow managers to drill down into the details of every jobsite.
How Safety Apps Accelerate Digital Transformation
Safety apps are an emerging subcategory in digital transformation and BIM. As a critical part of jobsite safety, these apps can provide actionable insights that increase efficiencies, reduce risks and drive profitability.
Many of the original safety solutions were developed to address common documentation-driven worksite and jobsite issues related to compliance and OSHA regulations. They make auditing easier but often don’t offer additional value across the company. Recently, a new generation of jobsite safety apps have emerged as a result of the pandemic. Digital check in was introduced as a way to streamline health screenings while keeping worker data private. Along with providing a faster way to mitigate the risk from the potential spread of Covid-19 on jobsites, these apps made it clear that it was time to retire the dated and time consuming paper-based process for workers and subcontractors to sign into jobsites, and it saves money immediately.
By digitizing the check-in process, GCs get additional insight into their businesses that would have otherwise been overlooked. They can more easily reconcile timesheets, reduce admin previously spent rekeying handwritten daily log data and reduce idle time on jobsites as clipboards are no longer passed around for workers and subcontractors to sign in (usually illegibly). Project management software actual vs plan can even be updated
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