Skip to main content

Safer construction sites with technology

Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, is now offering upgrades to its modular safety awareness solutions. The Leica iCON PA10 and PA80 are suited for use on construction sites and were designed initially to concentrate on identifying pedestrians.
April 7, 2022 Read time: 2 mins
Leica Geosystems is now offering an improved machine warning system

However, the upgrades include collision avoidance in hazardous conditions involving sensor-enabled machines, objects, and restriction zones.

Construction sites can be dangerous: heavy traffic, large equipment, poor visibility and blind spots all create the potential for accidents onsite.

The integrated collision-avoidance system and personal alert solution can help improve site productivity and safety. Providing better visibility, greater feedback to operators and field personnel minimises the risk of injuries, near misses and site shutdowns.

The Leica iCON PA10 is an accident-avoidance device worn onsite for 360 degree visibility of pedestrians around heavy equipment. The personal alert device creates multiple zones with up to 50m ranges with configurable warnings around any vehicle. The technology can predict potential close interactions between machinery and field crew, generating visual, audible and vibratory alarms to both operators and the pedestrians to avert potential accidents. Additional sensors can easily be installed on other moving objects and machines or to mark static infrastructure and avoidance zones. The resulting impact on blind spots and their human, operational and financial risks is significant. Safety awareness can thus become a keystone of how people, products and precious resources interact on successful construction sites.

Users of the Leica MC1 machine control platform can leverage their investments to run the new safety awareness solution. The Leica iCON PA80 integration will automatically alert the operator on the screen of the same device used for machine operations. This will increase awareness and immediate response regardless of whether the operator is in a dozer, excavator or any other heavy equipment. Leveraging the MC1 cloud enablement, incidents can also be logged and distributed to enable visualisation, analytics or reporting within a contractor’s existing safety management processes.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Optimising operations with construction software gains
    May 20, 2015
    Innovations in construction software are helping boost project efficiency and optimising project operations – Clive Davidson writes Over the past decade, while construction engineers have been putting up buildings or infrastructure, software engineers have been developing a parallel universe where virtual buildings or infrastructure can be created in ever increasing detail. What started with 2D architectural drawings in computer-aided design (CAD) systems, has become a multi-dimensional world, with 3D ge
  • Workzone safety protects workforce and drivers
    May 3, 2012
    Highway construction work zones are dangerous places, and anything that can improve safety is welcomed as Patrick Smith reports. The safe and efficient flow of traffic through work zones is a major concern to transportation officials, industry, the public, businesses, and commercial motor carriers. This is the view of the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which has developed the Highway Work Zone Safety Program to reduce the fatalities and injurious crashes in work zones, and to enhance traffic oper
  • Software and control innovations introduced
    August 14, 2023
    Firms are now offering technologies that will boost safety levels around working machines. These can alert operators to the vicinity of personnel to a working machine and even shut down a piece of equipment in the event of someone being in too close a proximity.
  • Focusing on workzone safety systems
    March 16, 2012
    The US has seen a major reduction in deaths following accidents in its highway construction work zones, while Europe and other parts of the world are looking at new safety technology and systems to trigger a similar trend. Guy Woodford reports. Work in the US to reduce the likelihood of potentially fatal accidents at highway work zones is paying dividend.