Opinion | Focus on error avoidance
Technology and a culture of error avoidance
In the past, our industry has – fairly or unfairly – been viewed as slow to adopt new technologies and practices. Yet the pages of New Civil Engineer present a very different perspective. Digital tools that facilitate everything from onsite management to offsite manufacture, right through to robotics and machine learning have entered the mainstream of our industry.
CLIFF SMITH
If these tools are integrated properly they can unlock huge benefits across a project lifecycle. So, which tools should teams invest in? To answer that, we have to define the outcomes we seek. Are we trying to deliver projects that are more efficient? More sustainable? Safer?
At the Get It Right Initiative, we are concerned with avoiding error – a strategic aim that serves all three of these goals. We estimate that error costs the industry around £21bn a year.
This cost takes many forms; from abortive design time, to material waste, or the cost of labour to do a job more than once. The link between error and safe working is quite apparent, while the waste involved has obvious implications for sustainability targets.
FOCUSING ON ERROR AVOIDANCE
We published a report with the C-Tech Club examining the real potential for digital applications to reduce error in design and construction. Workflow tools can reduce the risk of quality management steps being missed on site; visualisation software can identify problems before construction starts; and Internet of Things technology is increasingly used to measure curing temperatures for concrete to identify when it reaches full strength.
“Working culture needs to change too, because much of our industry does not take error seriously enoughHowever, investment in technology alone will not prevent errors occurring. Working culture needs to change too, because much of our industry does not take error seriously enough.
Current practice suffers with unclear and inconsistent methods of measuring error – so preventing errors can be little more than an afterthought.
Success comes down to the interplay between the tools and the people that use them. To create a culture that acknowledges the need for change, we must put people at the heart of the process.
Our research identifies ways in which this is manifested in the sector. Some technologies – such as building information modelling (BIM) – are sometimes seen as theoretical and disconnected from what happens on site.
“Success comes down to the interplay between the tools and the people that use them
This highlights one of the hotspots where we know error is most likely to take place – the interface between design and delivery. A perfect BIM model is only useful if the design information it contains is accurately and effectively communicated to those tasked with implementing it on the site.
Crossing this divide and translating technological decisions into practical delivery comes down to training not only in the use of the new tools, but in the behaviours and ways of working that are essential to success.
Clients, joint venture organisations and smaller contractors in the supply chain all need to play a role in communicating what is changing to their teams.
If we get that right, digital tools have the potential to revolutionise the way we design and construct.
- Cliff Smith is the executive director of the Get It Right Initiative, a not-for-profit membership body dedicated to eradicating error in the construction industry