DroneDeploy Unveils Safety AI to Transform Safety Risk Detection in Construction
SAN FRANCISCO — DroneDeploy, a leader in aerial and ground reality capture, has officially launched Safety AI, a groundbreaking solution designed to automatically detect safety risks on construction sites. This innovative tool combines proprietary AI developed in-house with advanced multimodal models from Google and OpenAI.
Safety AI serves as a premium intelligence enhancement to the DroneDeploy Ground product, automatically analyzing thousands of images captured weekly on construction projects. It identifies visible safety risks as outlined by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), ranks them by severity, and alerts the safety team accordingly.
This advanced intelligence layer integrates seamlessly into existing DroneDeploy Ground projects, requiring no additional setup, training, or alteration in capture methods. Users simply activate the feature, capture their site as usual, and Safety AI operates in the background.
Addressing Modern Construction Safety Challenges
The construction industry grapples with significant safety challenges, exacerbated by an aging workforce and increasing pressure to meet tighter production timelines. In 2022 alone, the industry faced $7.87 billion in costs due to rising accident rates, with over 167,000 lost-time injuries reported, each averaging $42,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Safety AI was developed to tackle these issues, aiming to achieve several key outcomes: reducing safety incident risks, enhancing relationships between owners and contractors, lowering Experience Modification Ratings (EMR), protecting workers, and boosting contractor profitability—all without necessitating additional personnel.
“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, an early adopter of Safety AI, has already experienced notable advantages. “I really like the extra set of eyes!" stated 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 to discuss ongoing activities and determine what we need to do to address any safety risks.”
Austin Lay, Reality Capture Technologies Manager at Layton Construction, remarked: “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.”
Advanced AI for OSHA Compliance
Safety AI excels in understanding and interpreting risks based on all OSHA safety standards, covering every element of standards 1910 and 1926. This technology, previously deemed nearly impossible to implement just a year ago, now reports visible safety risks with a remarkable 95% accuracy.
As Safety AI processes more data, it enhances a company’s safety performance. By aggregating information across multiple projects, it offers insights and trends that can help organizations proactively tackle high-risk behaviors, ensure proper training, and monitor performance across teams. Understanding the sensitivity of safety issues, reports will only be shared with designated safety teams on each project, allowing teams to respond to risks discreetly.