Solutions

Mark Zuckerberg is well known for his approach to innovation, as the following quote demonstrates, “Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough. People think innovation is just having a good idea, but a lot of it is just moving quickly and trying a lot of things.”

How often have you heard, as part of your pre-task plan, that workers must be 100% tied-off, 100% of the time?

We spoke with Manny Rodriguez, southeast regional safety director for Baker Concrete, to discuss the ways in which our companies come together to protect our people and the public.

In the construction industry, we know that fatalities can result from one wrong choice in the matter of a second. But through the power of Virtual Reality—VR for short—five minutes might be all it takes to save a life.

Since the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) was formed in the 1970s, the manufacturing industry has made tremendous improvements when it comes to safety. Despite years of new rules and regulations, the same cannot be said for construction. Statistics tell us that incident rates are on the rise, and so are fatalities.

In the early 1900s, Henry Ford turned manufacturing on its head. His innovations enabled workers to build an automobile in about 90 minutes, down from nearly 13 hours the decade prior. Ford’s formula for success was rooted in his belief that every second of a worker’s day must be fluid, efficient and safe.

How many times have you said to yourself, “Wow! That was a close one. I was lucky!”? Maybe you started to change lanes without looking over your shoulder and spotted a vehicle emerging from your blind spot. Perhaps you crossed the street while looking down at your cell phone as you heard a car come to a screeching halt. Or you realized that pot was still boiling on the stove as you smelled smoke.

From the start, Balfour Beatty’s preconstruction team dug into the details and identified and evaluated an off-site prefabricated synthetic wall system using Sto Panel technology for the 309 East Paces Ferry project. This unique solution mimicked the look of brick façade, provided close to $500,000 in savings, enhanced the energy efficiency of the building and provided a much faster and safer method of replacing the envelope on the busy streets of Buckhead.