Five notable firms have joined a construction industry group aiming to use artificial intelligence to predict hazards and conditions that lead to safety incidents at construction sites.
Skanska USA, Skanska Sweden, Webcor Builders, Obayashi, and concrete contractor Lithko Contracting have joined the Predictive Analytics Strategic Council. That group was launched earlier this year to share and analyze safety data.
The group uses an artificial intelligence-based system, called Vinnie, from image-analysis firm Smartvid.io that aggregates information from each firm to predict incidents and hazards. The council’s founding members were Suffolk, Barton Malow, DPR Construction, JE Dunn, Messer Construction Co., Mortenson, Shawmut Design and Construction, the Bouygues Group, and insurance broker Aon.
A Smartvid.io and Suffolk study showed that Vinnie learned to predict roughly one in five safety incidents with 81% accuracy. The goal of the group is to more accurately identify safety hazards before they cause incidents by analyzing data from all participants.
Related Stories
| Oct 18, 2012
Chicago pushing green roofs to reduce heat island effect
The city of Chicago has mandated that all new buildings that require any public funds must be LEED certified, usually with a green roof.
| Oct 11, 2012
OSHA launches pilot program for alternative dispute resolution on whistleblower complaints
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is launching an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) pilot program for complaints filed with OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program.
| Oct 11, 2012
Bill promotes investment in commercial, multifamily retrofits
The Commercial Building Modernization Act recently introduced in the Senate would extend and streamline a current tax deduction to encourage commercial and multifamily residential building owners to perform comprehensive energy-efficient retrofits.
| Oct 11, 2012
Morristown, N.Y., settles code violation dispute with Amish
The town of Morristown, N.Y., has dropped charges of building code violations against local Amish communities to settle a First Amendment complaint.
| Oct 11, 2012
Mesquite, Nev., rebels against state-mandated energy code
The city council of Mesquite, Nev., voted against adopting a new energy efficiency code adopted by the state.
| Oct 11, 2012
Bloomingdale, N.J., restricts ground solar and wind energy installations
The borough of Bloomingdale, N.J., recently adopted regulations for solar-energy and wind energy systems.
| Oct 3, 2012
Bill introduced to extend home energy efficiency tax credit
A bill to extend the expired residential energy efficiency tax credit for installing qualified furnaces, boilers, central air conditioners, and heat pumps was recently filed in the U.S. House of Representatives.
| Oct 3, 2012
OSHA publishes more detailed information on variances
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enhanced its variances Web page to improve public understanding of the variance approval process and increase access to the agency's decisions regarding variance requests.
