Background:
A.P. Construction Company is a CM/GC firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut with extensive experience in multifamily properties, commercial buildings, and educational, healthcare and municipal facilities. One of the earliest adopters of Spot-r technology, A.P. has deployed the solution on several projects and is “experiencing the improved real-time safety awareness, visibility and communication that Triax offers,” according to Tom Walsh, the company’s Executive Vice President.
The Spot-r Champion:
Triax’s client engagement team worked with Ryan Sullivan, the Assistant Project Manager for the 103,000 square foot Benchmark Senior Living facility in Fairfield, CT. With a degree in Construction Management and seven years in the field, Ryan is an experienced project manager who was excited about the prospect of using technology on site to connect him to trades and improve safety.
Workers were assigned a unique wearable Clip during the safety orientation, which they were responsible for bringing to the jobsite each day like another piece of PPE. While initially skeptical of a new device, once they were explained the material safety benefits of the system – faster incident response, push-button report safety issues and an evacuation alarm – workers bought in. Each day, Ryan would log into the Spot-r dashboard to compare the number of workers scheduled to be on site versus the number shown on the dashboard.
“It was a good gut-check. I would go into the dashboard and know there were 15 electricians on site, but only 8 people showing up. To me, that meant either 7 people were not wearing the devices or hadn’t successfully complete safety orientation.”
As the project progressed, Triax’s client engagement team regularly checked in with Ryan, pulling and sending automatic compliance and safety reports, outlining new features and system expansions, and hosting safety stand-downs.
“The system is continually updated. Seeing what it was two years ago to today is a huge advancement in technology.”
Quantifiable Safety Benefits:
Worker safety is the core of the Spot-r system. “It sounds cheesy, but the system provided peace of mind for me and the guys in the field. You don’t know the system is there until an event occurs.” At Benchmark, three particular examples stand out to Ryan:
1. Direct line of communication to supervisors
“We had a guy on a manlift doing the siding installation over one of the roof eaves in the courtyard. When the worker had to reposition his lift to continue the siding installation he realized that the lift couldn’t move forward or backward. He then tried to go down, but because he was working over the eave it was not possible. This was an unusual situation, but that’s exactly what the system is designed for. He held the push-button at the bottom of the Spot-r device, which sent an alert to me. I went out to the zone to check it out – you never know what you’re going to find – and I found him stuck up in the lift. With that notification, we were able to realize he was unable to get himself so we assisted with the use of another lift. The other lift was then taken out of service.”
2. Faster evacuations
Evacuations are always a challenge at the jobsite with workers spread out, competing noises, and materials and equipment often in the way. In an evacuation scenario, supervisors can “Enable Evacuation” in the dashboard, which triggers an 85-decibel alarm emitted by each Spot-r device. In addition, A.P. utilized Spot-r EvacTags, which emit a louder (100-decibel), flashing alarm and are easily placed around a worksite to maximize the safety benefits of the system.
At the time, 71 workers were on site, and upon initiating evacuation mode, workers heard and saw the alarm and proceeded to their muster point.
“The first workers arrived at the muster point within 45 seconds. Additionally, it was discovered that several workers were not wearing their Clip during the evacuation, but the EvacTags worked properly and aided in evacuating the whole site. Within 4 minutes and 50 seconds, all 71 workers had checked into the muster point, which is pretty incredible.”
3. Fall notifications
“We had another situation where a worker was doing work up high in the ceiling on the 3rd floor, and as he was coming down the ladder, he slipped off the rung and landed on his feet. It was a 4-5’ fall, and while he was fortunately okay, again I had the visibility to know that a situation had occurred, and I was able to call the super to ensure that he was okay.”
“Improved safety performance via Spot-r benefits us all,” echoed Tom Walsh, EVP, A.P. Construction. “From the personal well-being and engagement of our employees to the financial performance of our subcontractors.”
