Sandbox aims to shape future of smarter health and safety in UK construction
27 August 2024
Discovering Safety, a program of work delivered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s health and safety regulator, has begun collaborating with Safetytech Accelerator, a technology accelerator specialising in safety-critical industries.
The Smarter Regulation Sandbox is a six-month initiative funded by the Government Office of Technology Transfer (Photo: AdobeStock)
Alongside a group of technology providers and construction organisations, they are working to develop cutting-edge products that utilise regulatory information to enhance productivity and compliance in the construction industry.
Five technology companies - Evercam, Comet Analysis, PLINX, Pillar, and Navatech - are taking part in the Smarter Regulation Sandbox, a six-month initiative funded by the Government Office of Technology Transfer.
The initiative aims to develop and pilot digital products using information provided by the regulator. These products are said to cover various use cases, including automated access control, fatigue management, visual analytics, data-driven risk analysis, and AI-assisted assessment of health and safety regulations.
The technology companies are collaborating with construction and infrastructure partners, regulators, and industry mentors to tailor their products for industry use.
Partners include Balfour Beatty, Kier, Heathrow Airport, Getlink (formerly Groupe Eurotunnel), EDF Energy, Ferrovial, Colas, FTSQUARED, Digital Realty, AXA, Zurich Insurance Group, LV, City of London Corporation, The British Standards Institution, and The Better Regulation Executive (part of the Department for Business and Trade).
Dr Maurizio Pilu, managing director at Safetytech Accelerator, said, “Regulatory innovation has become a very hot topic and this collaboration to shape a future of health and safety regulation could not be more timely. There are multiple new technologies to improve workplace safety, wellbeing and productivity in construction, and we can do much more with digitised regulation and regulatory data.
“The UK Government is encouraging industry and regulators to collaborate and has made boosting productivity through the use of its data and regulatory innovation a key priority. We look forward to continuing our work with Discovering Safety and our other partners in the Smarter Regulation Sandox and to sharing the outcomes soon.”
