Most construction sites are back up and running now amid the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic, but that has led to an increase in responsibilities for employers to protect their employees. Chief among those additional responsibilities is the enforcement of face coverings and social distancing in order to help slow the spread of the virus. Constantly monitoring compliance of these can be a tall task, but Smartvid.io is using their AI platform to do all of the work for you.
Just last week, Smartvid,io released their first regional report for COVID-19 safety compliance. For those unfamiliar with the platform, Smartvid.io uses AI to automatically analyze photos and other data gathered across the job to recognize safety hazards and the potential for incident. For more on the platform itself, you can check out the interview I did with them at Groundbreak 2019 by clicking here.
The new report shows compliance percentages for on-site workers wearing face masks, wearing gloves, and practicing social distancing. Each data group is broken up into geographic region to act as a benchmark for your own company’s compliance. Since the first 3 weeks of June, Smartvid.io analyzed data from nearly 36,000 workers from companies across the country within the platform’s customer base.
When analyzing jobsite images, the platform’s AI, nicknamed “Vinnie” (in the vein of Apple’s “Siri”), counts any type of face covering as a mask, whether it’s a piece of cloth or a respirator. The same is true for gloves. The social distancing measurement notes any time individuals are standing less than six feet apart or when there are groups with 10 or more people.
As you’ll see in the picture below, mask and glove compliance has been very high across the country, while social distancing efforts could generally use some additional attention. Construction is a pretty interactive job, so contractors should pay attention to how their site is laid out in order to reduce bottle necking and adjust schedules to avoid crowded work zones in order to help increase distancing efforts.
Whenever data is being collected, especially on workers, there’s usually a cry of privacy concerns, but here’s what I really like and respect about Smartvid.io: they have made a point of not enabling facial recognition technologies, nor do they encourage their customers to use their technology as a means to punish those that are out of compliance.
“If the goal is to identify individuals for punishment, safety personnel won’t likely look deeper to understand the environmental factors that shape safety behavior and take measures to correct them. And that would be a huge mistake for everyone’s safety,” concluded Josh Kanner, Founder and CEO of Smartvid.io, in his blog post.
The goal, instead, is to use the gathered data to analyze trends and focus your company’s efforts on the areas lagging behind. Creating a safety culture is less about pointing the finger at individuals and more about creating safe habits and an environment where people feel empowered to be safe.
Full story: Regional Data for Benchmarking COVID-19 Safety Compliance: What’s your score? | Smartvid.io
Shane is the creator of Construction Junkie and an active construction project manager. In his career, he has managed interior remodel projects, site development, construction safety, governmental project compliance, and facility maintenance. He has a strong passion for construction technology and safety, as well as sharing the knowledge or insights he has gained throughout his career.