The Impact of Drone Technology on the Construction Industry

Thanks to their increased accessibility, their ever-developing functionality and their saturation of the tech market, we’ve seen an exponential growth in drones and their use over the past few years. 

It was once the case that drone technology was viewed as something seen in films, or a development to scaremonger and change the world for the worse. Thanks to their increasing availability on the market, they are now long since something to fear, and are quickly becoming household items. With their increased use, we are seeing drones infiltrating various business sectors and industries. 

Here’s how the development of drone technology could impact the construction industry, and what to look out for. 

A drone, or a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), offers a host of functionalities that are incredibly beneficial for the construction industry. They offer the ability to reach tall heights, are manned with a high-quality camera and are easy to use remotely. Thanks to these benefits, we’ve seen dangerous industries and companies that are reliant on health and safety utilising their technology on their construction sites.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking at a small or large scale construction site - the use of a drone can help you to manage safety and security while on-site. Thanks to the technology within the drone, sites can be watched and deemed safe and secure from the security of a stable position on the ground - or even off-site. Drone technology can also help us to maneuver objects using heavy and dangerous machinery in a safe manner, using drones to map out routes and to assess the safest method of transportation, ensuring minimum risk to workers and team members.

While safety and security are incredibly important for the construction industry, analysis is equally important, and thanks to the development of drones, you are able to survey a particular area quickly and efficiently without needing to commit substantially with human resources. You can still allow for human error along the way, but utilising the height and camera abilities of your drone, will be able to assess and analyse a particular plot of land quickly and without requiring a full team in order to do so. You’ll also be reducing your chances of making mistakes by doing so! 

Some of the most common safety concerns on a construction site include the incorrect use of safety equipment, the danger involved with moving objects and the manual handling of large objects too. Each one of these concerns can be managed and mitigated thanks to the use of drones, which can provide ongoing inspection and assistance during working hours.

Using drone technology, site managers will be able to quickly and easily inspect and manage sites remotely or through a screen throughout the day, without needing to physically take too much time out of their busy schedules. This will lead to increased safety checks and also more time for site managers to actually work without worry. This should also reduce accidents and injuries thanks to the ease of accessibility to check and monitor health and safety measures from remote locations.

The effective implementation of drone technology could have immense benefits to the construction industry, allowing more time for appropriate use of resources, reassured and reinforced health and safety measures for the team, as well as improved communication and knowledge sharing thanks to its availability. Construction workers should be able to move quickly, sign off on safety more efficiently and continue to ensure protocols are met and measured on a regular basis.