CU2105

TECHNOLOGY focus
Worksafe analytics
AI is transforming many aspects of the construction sector. Salman Chaudhary, CEO at EmpiricAI, looks
at why those companies that move early will set the pace of the industry and gain prime benefits
Around 7 per cent of the world's
workforce is employed in
construction activities and whilst
other sectors have embraced AI, until
recently at least, construction sites
have lagged behind. This is against the
background of a report by McKinsey
which highlighted that total economic
output per construction worker has
remained flat, compared to productivity
gains of 1,500 percent in
manufacturing and agriculture since
1945. It points out that one of the
reasons for this is that construction is
still an under-digitised industry and
slow to adopt new technologies.
However, all that is changing with
Computer Vision AI having the ability to
make construction sites more efficient
and safer, whilst saving costs. AI offers
a transformative change from a laissezfaire
approach that relies on
construction workers following general
health & safety rules to monitoring,
detecting and reporting breaches on
COVID-19 social distancing and face
mask wearing.
When COVID-19 hit, the construction
sector faced significant challenges in
terms of securing supply chains and
dealing with uncertain customer
demand. Workplace safety suddenly
became an incredibly significant
challenge for a lot of construction
businesses. Most organisations
implemented manual monitoring of
social distancing and wearing of face
masks as standard operating
procedures, although the level of
compliance has been patchy. Without
active and comprehensive monitoring
of how the guidelines are being
followed, it's virtually impossible to
know whether the risk of infections was
being reduced.
As a consequence, very early in the
pandemic there were some large
outbreaks on site that lead to
shutdowns and inevitable delays to the
build schedule. At the same time, we
had been developing Computer Vision
AI that focuses on visual data and
algorithms that can be applied to
images and videos. The goal was to
help site management teams to
accurately and comprehensively
monitor how well workers were
complying with the safety guidelines
they had put in place. The technology
does this by applying AI models on
CCTV camera video feeds to detect
proper face mask usage, social
distancing, and crowding within a
workplace. This data is then analysed
and assessed to provide specific
insights into where improvements to
workplace safety can be made.
Capturing this data - a task that would
be impossible using observation and
spot checks by Health & Safety
Officers - provides a detailed
assessment of the risk of infection, PPE
compliance and potential disruption to
a business. This reassures businesses
by reducing the risk of infection and it
also gives employees confidence that
they are working in a safe environment,
protecting themselves and their
families.
As we move beyond COVID-19,
Computer Vision AI will remain a
disruptive technology in construction.
The possibilities extend to risk
mitigation (time, cost and safety risks),
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May/June 2021