Leveraging ConTech To Protect Workers From Work Zone Intrusion

Aaron McClellan, Construction Technology Manager, Granite Construction

In 2021, Granite implemented the Construction Technology Strategy Plan to assess and determine which applied technologies can provide value to our customers, employees, and shareholders. During this process, we identified several areas of application across our business, but none more important than in the realm of safety performance. This article addresses current efforts to protect our people with new technology.

The safety of our people is our number one priority. Despite successes in lowering overall injury rates, the construction industry has not made much progress in lowering the number of fatalities. We believe there are tech solutions that can start to turn the tide of fatal injuries. In particular, one of our current technology objectives ties directly to the dangers posed by work zone intrusion—namely, incidents where a vehicle travels into one of our job sites.

Granite does much of our work next to active roadways, meaning our employees are close to the activities on the roadway—speeding cars, distracted drivers, and inclement weather all present the risk of injury. In these circumstances, the time from the intrusion of a vehicle to a devastating injury can be a matter of a few seconds. To mitigate these dangers, we are working on an initiative to combine several technologies into a three-phased work zone intrusion mitigation concept. The plan is as follows:

“The construction industry generally, and civil infrastructure in particular, is positioned for major growth as efforts to address America’s infrastructure challenges ramp up. New funding for the infrastructure and jobs act means that now is the time to make technology investments to drive safer, more sustainable, and more efficient projects.”

● Phase 1: Use camera analytics and machine learning to identify when a vehicle is anticipated to enter a work zone. When the system detects a potential intrusion, it will trigger an audio and visual alert to our workers.

● Phase 2: Implement the Internet of Things (IoT) enabled sensors to create a perimeter around our work zone. When the sensor detects a vehicle breaching that perimeter, the system will trigger audio and visual alerts. 

● Phase 3: Introduce sensor-enabled safety vests that will link with the above systems. When our systems detect an intrusion, they can trigger airbag vests that protect the vital organs when the impact is imminent. 

Beyond work zone intrusion, there are initiatives to provide a more controlled and safer environment for our employees to do their work. Successful pilot implementations have tested sensors that alert our workers of proximity to risks or hazards like high voltage power lines and moving machinery. A heat sensor is currently undergoing testing in our hottest regions. This device can alert workers and managers as individuals’ core body temperatures rise to dangerous thresholds. 

The construction industry generally, and civil infrastructure in particular, is positioned for major growth as efforts to address America’s infrastructure challenges ramp up. New funding for the infrastructure and jobs act means that now is the time to make technology investments to drive safer, more sustainable, and more efficient projects. As we continue to support our people’s ability to improve and innovate, we are also consciously looking externally for opportunities to benchmark and learn from other companies who are investing in innovative construction technology. Safety in our industry is not for one company alone, but instead, as we all innovate and experiment in this area, all construction workers will benefit.