Question

Question 1:

A) Identify five promising technologies used for construction, safety and health management. For each technology, highlight at least three benefits and three limitations.

B) Using Hierarchy of Control framework as a guide, discuss the impact/effectiveness of technologies discussed in problem 1.

Please Answer part B

Answer 1

1. Concrete That Can Heal Itself –

Benefits

a. cracks in cement that let water in are a major reason for concrete rebar (reinforcement steel bars) failure and structural weakness. The technology varies by patents, but the cement has bacteria or other elements that produce new calcium to fill in cracks so that water is less able to enter. As the price comes down, it’s use to expand to dams, bridges, boat hulls, swimming pools, sewer pipe, culverts, cisterns, and any construction exposed to water.

b. It reduce those maintenance costs and make buildings and bridges safer, researchers are now giving concrete the power to heal itself.

c. By extending the lifetime of structures, self-healing concrete could also reduce the use of concrete for rebuilding and cut concrete's impact on the environment.

limitation

a. The limitation of crack width and the carbonation benefits autogenous self-healing.

b. When the micro-cracks occur and the liquid water is available, the continued hydration. and

c. carbonation make the concrete exhibiting the self-healing ability

2. Internet Connected Power Tools

Benefits

Information It is obvious that having more information helps making better decisions.

Time - As hinted in the previous examples, the amount of time saved because of IoT could be quite large.

Money - The biggest advantage of IoT is saving money. If the price of the tagging and monitoring equipment is less than the amount of money saved, then the Internet of Things will be very widely adopted.

limitation

Compatibility: Currently, there is no international standard of compatibility for the tagging and monitoring equipment.

Complexity: As with all complex systems, there are more opportunities of failure. With the Internet of Things, failures could sky rocket.

Privacy/Security: With all of this IoT data being transmitted, the risk of losing privacy increases.

3. Lightest Metallic Structure Ever Produced - he Boeing structure uses a lattice pattern to absorb a large amount of energy. It will be interesting to see if the design can be adapted to any construction applications, like safer hard hats and power tools.

Benefits

importance of using lighter materials in aircraft.

Less weight means less fuel burned and less CO2 emitted.

We’ve covered plastics and ceramic-matrix composites before

ADVANCED HIGH-STRENGTH STEEL

Pros: High strength, stiffness, formability, and corrosion performance, as well as low cost.

Cons: High cost, and wears out stamping molds faster than for lesser grades. Ductility decreases as strength increases, adding issues in forming and joining.

Aluminium-

Pros: Technology is fairly mature; good stiffness, strength, and energy absorption.

Cons: Higher cost than steel, joining to other materials, and limited formability issues.

promising technologies safety and health management.

1. Predictive and Corrective Analysis

Predictive and Corrective Analysis We’re now able to collect vast amounts of data on health and safety. The information collected from tracking dangerous activities, diagnosing equipment, reporting of incidents and more can be analysed for correlations and predictions.

For instance, data from your equipment’s performance can be used to predict when it will malfunction. Instead of waiting for a dangerous malfunction, your personnel could be alerted that the equipment is headed toward a breakdown. It can then be adjusted or fixed before a real problem occurs. Not only does this kind of technology help you to avoid incidents, but it also improves productivity.

2. Localisation Technology for Improved Crisis Management

Localisation technology allows management to immediately locate all workers potentially impacted by an incident, and it can also help to identify safety resources. As you can tell, such technology can be life-saving when a major incident happens.

3. Monitoring Activities with Wearables

Another technology that is proving valuable in improving site safety is the use of wearables for workers in hazardous settings. When workers are monitored by wearables, it’s possible to detect red flags such as heat, gas or lack of movement. If one of these red flags occurs, nearby co-workers as well as management or even emergency services can be automatically alerted.

4. Superior Risk Management

Technologies like Vault Intelligence and Mango OHS allow construction businesses to better connect with their teams, reduce incidents on site and stay compliant. With risk management software, you can make all of your OHS tasks more easily, and you’ll also stay on top of everything from one easy-to-view dashboard.

5. Digitisation of Safety Process with Mobile Devices

The technology is now available to combine affordable mobile devices with cloud and mobile applications, and this combination can improve your site safety. With real-time site information accessible to all, your workers can detect conflicting activities as they happen and work more productively.

Part 2. Some positive Impact on technologies

a. Drones in Construction - One of the main ways they can be used is to conduct site surveys as they can be used to provide a birds-eye view, or should we say ‘drones-eye view’. The results are much quicker and more accurate as they eliminate human error. They also improve heath and safety as they decrease the amount of work that has to be done manually.

b.Virtual Reality in Construction - It’s now possible to fully immerse stakeholders in a 4D virtual reality model during the design and planning stages. It has been used on major projects such as an airport hotel and a zoo where they were able to use virtual reality to minimise problems such as access to site and health and safety. Through this technology, the designers, contractors and stakeholders were all able to align their visions and wishes to achieve something that met everybody’s expectations.

c. Wearables in Construction - Some of these include things to be worn by the individual to improve efficiency and health and safety, such as heating and cooling jackets and ‘smart caps’ which monitor brain waves to sense fatigue.

Negative impects of construction technology

a. Environmental degradation:- As more and more land is reclaimed back from the wild in the quest to develop the same for various construction-related projects, construction companies are helping contribute to the global warming, as a result of deforestation and destruction of natural habitats. A recent study established that we lose over 1000 species, both flora and fauna each year due to loss of natural habitats. Most construction companies, when reclaiming forested land often do not bother to assess the environmental impact and this has taken a toll on the local environment with disastrous consequences.

b. Localized health issues: - Given the scarcity of prime properties, construction companies have started reclaiming land from the sea and from local water bodies including marshes. While all of this has been made possible with the various advances in construction technology over the last few decades, the fact remains that building housing condominiums’ near a marsh can put residents at risk of contracting malaria and other diseases. Most construction companies do not bother to assess a particular area in depth since they are already under enormous pressure to complete a project – the end result is that the health of these residents can get impacted as a result of shoddy work on the part of the construction company.

c. Safety issues: - As most construction companies are under enormous pressure to wrap up their projects in the shortest time possible and to hand over the same, they often try to cut corners to achieve the near impossible. The end result is that the building in question could have been built using inferior materials; it may lack a fire escape, emergency evacuation plans and more. The fact remains that as more construction companies race against time to complete their project, the safety is often one of the first things that most of these companies compromise on.