AECOM Tishman is a leader in the construction industry working on the most innovative projects in the country. This leadership has also taken form in their adoption of technology on the jobsite. When AECOM Tishman was chosen in joint venture with Woodward Design + Build to renovate The Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences New Orleans, they turned to Triax Technologies and its Spot-r IoT platform to maximize safety and improve site visibility.
Manual checks are not an option
The New Orleans Four Seasons project involved renovation of the existing historic 33-story building plus the addition of another floor and two new five-story wings at the base of the building. Previously, AECOM Tishman would have relied on manual headcounts and safety checks to cover a site this large. The dilemma they had was how to efficiently monitor safety in an environment with so many moving parts, machinery, and manpower. The joint venture turned to Spot-r to increase safety on site and dramatically improve incident response times as well as evacuation times.
Top construction firm turns to wearable solutions to maintain safety
“There’s nothing more important to us than making sure that everyone makes it home safely at the end of every shift,” said Casey Sullivan, Assistant Project Manager, AECOM Tishman. “That means knowing where our workers are, equipping them with the right safety tools, and being prepared for emergencies.”
Communication and visibility in real-time
At the start of each day, workers enter the jobsite through a secure entrance and are provided with a Spot-r Clip® to attach to their belts. The clip is instantly connected to a proprietary secure network and features a push button that allows workers to communicate injuries or hazards on site. With hundreds of workers on site each day, AECOM Tishman was able to save hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their 30-month project by automating their time and attendance process.
“It’s important for us to be able to locate everyone at a moment’s notice in case of emergency and get them out of the building quickly. Spot-r’s secure site and access control feature also allow us to keep unauthorized people off the site and out of harm’s way.”
The push-button capabilities were critical when notifying site managers of a trespasser on the property. AECOM Tishman was able to notify the authorities and take care of the situation immediately. Simultaneously, a general evacuation alert went out to all workers and the site was cleared in a matter of minutes.
Innovative Spot-r uses
Not only has Spot-r proven its worth to AECOM Tishman for its safety benefits, but the firm has also started using the system to improve efficiencies and productivity. By using Point of Interest (POI) Tags to monitor machinery and equipment bottlenecks, they were able to gain insights into how efficiently the hoist elevators on-site were being used. Based on the data, AECOM Tishman dedicated two elevators to materials and two to workers.
“The more we use Spot-r, the more innovative uses we find for the technology. And in the end, I can rest assured that on this project we have elevated our safety measures and prepared ourselves to address any emergency that may come our way. I’ve been around several large jobsites during the past few years and with Spot-r on board, this is by far the safest jobsite I’ve ever seen,” Sullivan said.
