DroneDeploy, the leading aerial and ground reality capture platform, has announced the launch of Safety AI, the only solution of its kind to automatically identify safety risks on construction sites using a combination of in-house developed proprietary AI and large multimodal models from Google and OpenAI.
Safety AI, a premium intelligence add-on to the DroneDeploy Ground product, automatically analyzes thousands of images already captured every week on construction projects, to detect all visible United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety risks. The AI ranks them based on severity and informs the safety team automatically.
This new layer of intelligence seamlessly integrates into all DroneDeploy Ground projects, with no additional setup, training or change in capture behavior required. Simply turn it on, capture your site as normal, and it works in the background.
Addressing construction industry trends of today and tomorrow
The construction industry faces significant safety challenges due to an aging workforce and growing pressure to meet tighter production deadlines. Rising accident rates have cost the industry $7.87 billion, with over 167,000 lost-time injuries recorded, each costing an average of $42,000, in 2022 alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Safety AI was built to meet these challenges and achieve the following outcomes: Reduce the risk of safety incidents, improve relationships between owners and contractors, lower Experience Modification Rating (EMR), protect workers and enhance profitability for contractors – all without adding extra headcount.
“With Safety AI, your most seasoned safety managers can monitor safety practice on every project, every day,” said James Pipe, Chief Product Officer at DroneDeploy. “With comprehensive reports that align with OSHA standards, Safety AI enabled our beta customers to reduce the occurrence of unsafe conditions by up to 89% within three weeks. We expect to see these results scale nationally as the technology is rolled out further.”
Wadman Corporation, one of the early adopters of Safety AI, has already seen substantial benefits. “I really like the extra set of eyes!” said Troy Nichols, Assistant Safety Director at Wadman Corporation. “I’m not at the project every day so when I receive the Safety AI reports, I’m able to reach out to the project team so we can discuss the activities that are in progress and determine what we need to do to get any safety risks taken care of.”
Austin Lay, Reality Capture Technologies Manager at Layton Construction, said: “Out of everything DroneDeploy has ever done, I’d have to say this might be the best, as far as the immediate impact it’s had on the project teams.”
Cutting-edge AI built for OSHA compliance
Safety AI’s ability to understand and interpret risks based on all OSHA safety standards, including every single element of standards 1910 and 1926, brings a new level of precision and compliance to jobsite monitoring. Leveraging in-house developed proprietary AI and the logical reasoning of large multimodal models, this technology – which was near impossible just 12 months ago – reports on visible safety risks to a 95% accuracy level.
The more data Safety AI processes, the more it can improve a company’s safety performance. By aggregating information across projects, Safety AI provides company-wide safety trends and insights that can help organizations proactively address high-risk behaviors, ensure proper training and monitor performance across different teams. Given that safety can be a sensitive topic, it will only share reports with the designated safety team on each project, giving teams the freedom to respond to risks privately.
Available now with DroneDeploy Ground
Safety AI is available now for all customers of DroneDeploy Ground. It can be activated instantly and works with your existing processes. It can also be run on historical data, ensuring past risks are identified and addressed.
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