Special to Ontario Construction News
On any trip around Toronto, or a similarly bustling city like New York or London, the streets often look like a constant battleground between construction sites and the rest of the city trying to navigate around them.
From the outside, much of the visible public safety work is focused on fencing and security to keep people from harm’s way. All while managing the traffic flow of large vehicles onto a site and keeping city traffic moving. To the public, construction sites may seem noisy and chaotic due to their proximity to the open streets, but security technology like CCTV plays a vital role in keeping them safe.
That sense of chaos seems eternal in popular development areas like Eglinton Avenue or St. Laurent Boulevard, where new high-rises and office blocks appear to sprout up out of thin air. With construction teams moving to the next refurb or vacant lot every few months.
Keeping the public safe around construction works
Much of the health and safety activity on construction sites for the public is time-tested and traditional, with high fences or temporary walls to prevent access, netting to prevent things dropping onto the streets, and efforts to reduce the eyesore nature of early development work. As work ramps up, even basic vehicle movements can become a coordinated exercise, with teams guiding cranes, dump trucks and other heavy vehicles to ensure every turn, entry and exit is made safely.
However, in the digital age, even traditional construction firms are turning to security technology, including command and control, advanced video capabilities, networking and communications to ensure that safety isn’t considered done once the walls have gone up.
Working under greater pressure and in limited spaces, security technology delivers fast responses to any incidents, keeps operators and management in the loop, and helps keep the regulators happy. And it ensures construction companies and partners are safe to work in the decreasing gaps between them and the public, all while keeping to tight construction schedules.
Keeping the public safe at the boundaries of construction sites, sensors and CCTV can monitor vehicles, intrusion risks, and the anti-social aspects of noise, dust and intense vibrations. This enables the business to make remedies, meeting regional or national health and safety laws, and supporting the needs of locals around a specific site location, and driving best practices for meeting compliance goals and ensuring insurance coverage requirements are met.
As part of the construction and safety plan, early risk analysis and clear communication with neighbours and the public are essential. Highlighting security technology in this way can calm frayed nerves and build public trust, while CCTV continues to support anti-theft efforts, improve worker safety, and reduce the risk of site intrusions and vandalism.
Security technology in urban construction
Incidents in high-profile developments on city streets can become a PR disaster for construction companies and their partners. Which is one reason why technology now plays an increasing part in public safety.
Whether on-site or remotely, most major constructions now have a command centre, linked to extensive video security systems, often across multiple sites. With clear levels of communication and with well-drilled processes to avoid and manage any potentially troublesome or dangerous situation on or around the construction site.
Combining physical site security with the latest fixed video AI CCTV cameras, as well as body cameras for those in public-facing roles, a joined-up view across sites, large or small, becomes possible. With security integrated across access control and vehicle management, along with radios and data networks providing a consistent feed, management and security teams can ensure effective operational communications.
Security also becomes a proactive feature for construction sites, with AI systems able to alert workers and security staff to problems before they become a major issue. For example, loose animals in the area, severe weather-induced problems, or ex-employees trying to gain access to the site. All can be tracked by camera or sensor before they hit the site.
With well-drilled site processes and workflows, teams know where they need to be to intercept or mitigate an issue, backed up by the situational awareness and intelligence coming from the command centre.
And in a busy urban setting, many other types of unpredictable activity can occur, and when they do, the teams with the best response plans and communications can react in a more organised and controlled manner, no matter what the incident. That’s as long as the company remains on top of its network protection, cybersecurity and related issues that are a key requirement of running any digital business.
Many construction firms feel comfortable with their time-honored safety setups and communications methods. But investing in modern technology approaches to address operational pain points will help support construction expansion, prove to staff, investors and partners that the company takes safety seriously and deliver the latest in safety process management and compliance efforts.
