b'Operationalizing Safety: Why Its Time to Treatvisible. It creates audit trails, flags missing documentation and Safety Tech Like Your Project Scheduleshows you where your exposure isbefore something happens. The ROI isnt just regulatory. Its reputational. Its operational. Its In todays construction environment, every executive understandsabout provingto clients, insurers, regulators and your teamthat the importance of risk mitigation. They build entire strategiesyour company is doing the right thing, consistently andaround it: contingency planning, procurement buffering, intelligently. subcontractor prequalification and, yes, even tariff management. They know that an unexpected spike in materials costs or a delay inConstruction leaders have gotten better at forecasting external the supply chain can derail a projects timeline, budget and threats, such as tariff volatility or geopolitical disruption. They reputation.track steel prices, hedge against material shortages and pre-buy or delay shipments based on economic outlooks. And yet, when it comes to one of the most consistent andcontrollable risksworker safetysome companies are still Why? Because theyve seen what happens when they dont. Safety operating reactively.is no different. If it is treated as an unpredictable variable, relying on static processes or lagging indicators like EMR, companies set Safety isnt a line item. Its not a box to check or a binder to dustthemselves up for exposure. Just like tariffs, the risk is real, but its off before an audit. For construction leaders who want to buildmeasurable and its manageable if approached proactively. Acompanies that last, safety needs to be operationalized, woven intoproactive safety system is like a procurement bufferit wont the workflows, rhythms and decision-making of the business. Noteliminate every risk, but it will dramatically reduce the chances of just because it protects people, but because it protects everythingcatastrophe and give your team the tools to respond quickly and else.intelligently. Safety has been traditionally thought of as a compliance function:MOVING FROM SAFETY OFFICER TO SAFETY IN-Are forms up to date, are workers trained, have inspections beenFRASTRUCTURE: One of the most important shifts construc-passed? Safety is often where workflows break down. From tion leaders can make is to stop thinking about safety as alaborers to construction company ownersand even laborers whodepartment and start treating it as infrastructure. Just as companies become construction company ownersworkers are asked to invest in BIM to improve coordination, or project management complete daily assessments on paper. Foremen are asked to collectsoftware to control scope and cost, they need to invest in systems and file training certificates manually. Superintendents keep trackthat make safety efficient, accountable and data-driven. of inspection forms across five different subcontractors. And all ofThat starts with empowering safety professionals not asthis happens in an environment where people are under pressure tocompliance enforcers, but as strategic operators. In many ways, the stay on schedule, hit production targets and manage crews on theevolution in safety mirrors what is happening with finance teams: fly.bookkeepers become controllers, then CFOs. Theyre nowexpected to drive insight, not just track numbers. The result is that safety becomes a fragmented process, one thatsSafety must be elevated in the same way by giving leaders the tools managed on the margins. Meanwhile, safety managers are and a seat at the table and letting them drive adoption ofdrowning in administrative taskschasing paperwork, scanningtechnology that frees them from reactive workflows and allows documents, auditing spreadsheets. Instead of enabling a saferthem to spend more time mentoring, training and improving site jobsite, theyre stuck protecting the business from liability.performance. WHY SAFETY TECH HAS TO WORK LIKE A TOOL,The construction industry is at an inflection point. Margins are NOT A TASK: If you hand a carpenter a hammer, you donttight, projects are complex, labor is scarce and reputational risk is need to explain how or when to use it. The tool fits intuitively intohigher than ever. The companies that win in this environment will the work. Thats what safety tech needs to become: a tool that fitsbe the ones that see safety not as overhead, but as a competitive the flow, not a task that interrupts it. For a long time, safety advantage. Theyll be the ones who integrate safety into the DNA technology has focused on documentation, digitizing forms, storingof their operations, just like they do with quality, scheduling or certificates and generating reports. But if that data isnt accessiblebudgeting. to the people who need it when they need it, its just morepaperwork. Technology isnt the whole answer, but its the infrastructure that What construction executives need today is field-first design, enables better answers, reducing blind spots, streamlining reporting mobile-first experiences that dont assume workers have emailand empowering people, from the C-suite to the field crew, to take addresses or the latest smartphones, and systems that are easy toownership of safety in real time. use, will work across devices and can integrate with the platforms already in place, from scheduling to asset management. If fieldIts not just about digitizing the past, but building the futurecrews are to actually engage with safety protocols, it cannot bewhere safety works as intuitively as any other part of the job.treated as a separate task. It needs to be embedded in the daily Because at the end of the day, the safest companies wont be the routine from start to finish: pre-task planning, toolbox talks andones with the most paperwork. Theyll be the ones where safety is end-of-day closeouts.Heres the uncomfortable truth: The burdenoperationalized, optimized and owned by everyone. of safety doesnt just fall on safety officers or project managersit falls on leadership, and many construction executives agree. When something goes wrong on site, the executive gets the call. Its theBy Gabe Guettacompanys name in the press. Its the brand and business thatcarries the weight of liability.Often, contractors are more afraid of what they cant see that they could plan for. Thats where technology makes the invisible 20'