The construction jobsite is full of safety hazards such as falling objects, sharp edges, flying sparks, heavy noise, extreme temperatures, and plenty of other dangerous situations!
However as per the safety regulators such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and European Commission mandates, businesses need to protect their employees and clients from occupational hazards. Thus, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) becomes an essential part of the construction ecosystem. Moreover, the COVID-19 scenario has brought additional safety concerns in workplaces to avoid the spread of the virus. Thus, PPE compliance amongst construction workers in the job-site is of utter importance in the contemporary times than any time before.
This blog is thus an attempt to showcase how viAct’s construction management software powered by its proprietary scenario-based AI helps efficient PPE detection to enhance the jobsite safety.
Why is PPE Detection important for the construction industry?
The construction industry is globally considered as the riskiest industry and construction workers are twice more vulnerable to workplace injuries, compared to workers in other occupations. In fact, in the year 2019, the National Safety Council listed the construction industry as the “most dangerous industry”. Thus, non-compliance to PPE protocols presents a serious threat to the worker’s safety in construction jobsites.
According to reports published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, falls accounts for 33% of all the death occurred in construction. Further, each year 9.7 of every 100,000 construction workers suffer a fatal injury, which is the fourth highest rate of fatal injuries in any industry.
Statistics shows the industry accounts for 8.5% of all injuries that result in lost days of work. In the year 2019, more than 130,000 construction workers missed days of work due to jobsite injuries, leading to decreased productivity.
It has been reported that, in US, fatal construction injuries costs approximately $5 billion each year on health care, lost income, reduced quality of life, and lost production. Moreover, workers’ compensation claims for non-fatal falls accounts for $2.5 billion annually.
A report published by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) showed that penalties incurred by OSHA for safety violations can cost from $13,653 to $136,532.
Thus, the aforementioned statistics clearly presents the importance of PPE Detection in the construction industry for ensuring the safety in the jobsites.
What is viAct’s PPE Detection Module?
viAct’s PPE Detection Module is tailor-made AI and Computer Vision based construction management system that is specially designed to detect different kinds of PPE of the construction workers!
This smart AI Module is an amalgamation of a number a viAct’s modules such as the Safety Helmet Detection Module, Safety Jacket Detection Module, Face Mask Detection Module and the like, which can detect various types of personal protective equipment of the construction workers such as helmets, harness, safety jackets, goggles, boots and many more.
The module is well-trained and tested to effectively detect the aforementioned protective equipment in real-time and deliver automatic and instant alerts to the stakeholders – both on-site and remote – in case any worker without proper PPE is detected. What makes this module even more existing is that it is also capable enough to effectively work on various colors and types of equipment (say red, orange, blue, white & yellow helmets and jackets).
What needs to be done is simply connect the AI cameras to viAct’s smart AI cloud solution and it will automatically and instantly alert the on-site and remote stakeholders if any worker without proper PPE is detected in the jobsite. Moreover, viAct’s integrated dashboard records the visual proofs of all the non-compliances that can be used later on for training the workers. The alert card in the dashboard allows selecting a specific date range to have a look at the overall safety compliances.
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Furthermore, the Overview & Trend Card in viAct’s integrated dashboard has been successfully used by contractors and safety managers to keep a watch of safety non-compliance trends for better planning and progress.
Thus, viAct’s smart AI leveraged construction management software helps to track PPE compliances at the construction jobsite, in turn helping avoid 95% of the fatal injuries and 80% of potential compensation cost, that too in a manner which is 70% cheaper than human monitoring.
Who can be benefitted from viAct’s PPE Detection Module?
In general, all the stakeholders associated with a construction project would be benefitted from this Module since risk management and safety is a matter of concern for the construction stakeholders. However, in particular, the following construction stakeholders can be prominently benefitted by viAct’s PPE Detection Module:
Owners |
Builders |
Safety Managers |
Contractors & Sub-Contractors |
What are the benefits of using viAct’s PPE Detection Module?
Reduces Accidents: Using viAct’s PPE Detection Module can reduce the number of accidents in jobsite and their severity as the stakeholders get real-time, instant and automatic alerts of any PPE non-compliance enabling them to take rightful actions before it is too late. |
Ensures Jobsite Productivity: Workplace injury may lead to workers short-term or long-term disability, thus affecting jobsite productivity. However, viAct’s PPE Detection Module protects the workers from being injured, in turn ensuring the jobsite productivity. |
Saves Insurance Costing Against Accidents: By making use of viAct’s PPE Detection Module the stakeholders can protect the workers from workplace injuries, in turn reducing/lowering the insurance premiums that would have otherwise been incurred on the construction company. |
Improves Company Culture: Using viAct’s PPE Detection Module does not only have safety and cost benefits, but it also helps in developing a better company culture. Employees are generally more sincere and participative in workplaces where they feel their safety is taken care of. |
Ensures Psychological Safety in the Jobsites: Not just physical safety, viAct’s PPE Detection Module also ensures psychological safety in the construction jobsites. It acts as an ‘extra eye’ in the jobsite that looks into the safety of the workers round-the-clock, thus generating a sense of security in the minds of both the workers and stakeholders. |
Less Number of Litigations: viAct’s PPE Detection Module also has legal benefits. Using PPE Detection Module helps companies to abide by the various workplace safety regulations set by the governments of different countries and thus avoid extra expenses associated with compensation or lawsuits. |