Builders using their smartphones on the job might seem a workplace safety risk. But new applications of mobile technologies could be a “boom for safety” on construction sites, ACT Work Safety commissioner Mark McCabe said.
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Sign On Site, one such smartphone app developed by students from University of Canberra and Australian National University, could make the paper-based sign in system obsolete.
An entrepreneur and innovation student at UC, Mitchell Harmer, said the app was basically like a Facebook check-in for construction sites.
Sign On Site developer and project manager for Banyan Construction Alexandria Garlan said: “ACT legislation dictates an individual needs to register when they arrive or leave a site ... We know people aren’t always doing this because multiple entrances and exits are often far apart. There are foremen trying to cover the site to sign people in and out, and we estimate they can spend on average an 1 ½ hours a day doing this,’’ she said.
Mr McCabe welcomed the innovative solution “The primary purpose of signing into a site is that when an emergency arises you can see who is on site and who isn’t, and a more accurate method of doing so would be a boom for safety,” Mr McCabe said.
Sign On Site recently swept the Innovation ACT awards, winning $35,000 to perfect the software. Students are now working with local construction company Huon to develop the system.
