Increase Safety with 3D Laser Scanning

Over the last decade, maintaining overall worker safety on large construction and oil production projects has become more advanced and more important than anything else. Luckily, surveying and documenting these construction sites and facilities have become a lot safer and efficient, thanks to 3D laser scanning. It has also led to more accurate measurement and field dimensioning processes that can enhance and ensure safety throughout the building process.

The Importance of Safety & 3D Laser Scanning Across Industries

Safety is a massive concern for businesses across most industries, and increasing worker safety is paramount. The construction industry and the production of oil and gas are hazardous businesses.

One way companies are improving job site safety is through the use of 3D laser scanning.

3D laser scanning solutions are highly valued for their streamlined documentation abilities and accurate collection of data. Moreover, they serve as handy tools to minimize risk to personnel, improve industry safety, and avoid rework.

Portable 3D laser scanners are used for onsite surveying and recording data/measurements from a safe distance. Field verifying and scanning from a safe distance/area will ensure the safety of the workers when the site is unsafe to access.

Some 3D scanners can even scan a particular site from a distance of approximately 400m away. 3D laser scanning technology is also fast, which minimizes the time duration operators will be exposed to the onsite working conditions.

A Safer Way to Access Dangerous Areas

Imagine measuring a towering pressure vessel and all its components from the ground level without climbing on top of it or even using a tape measure.

When it comes to working in the construction industry, the best way to radically and drastically mitigate the chances of falling is to keep the workers on the ground.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1,102 workers’ lives were lost due to accidental falls in 2019.

3D Laser scanning technology can increase safety and reduce the risk of falling. It will minimize scaffolding use and reduce the need to climb to high levels or squeeze into narrowed and risky spaces to gather proper documentation/dimensions.

You can now easily measure with 3D laser scanning without getting too close to dangerous construction site areas, unlike conventional methods that require a tape measure.

Measuring and understanding the project conditions correctly without putting workers in a potentially dangerous situation is a massive advantage to stakeholders.

Safer and Better Training

Safety training is yet another significant application of 3D laser scanning that remains underutilized. 3D scan data can be used for AR/VR simulations and to generate more practical and effective instruction manuals/deliverables for maintenance and safe operations.

Simulations can be carried out either remotely or in classrooms at regularly scheduled times and on request, neutralizing complications or cancellations caused by onsite climate conditions.

Taking crews or new operators virtually to different site areas to make them familiar with such locations increases their awareness of dangerous sections and other nuances.

Using this highly realistic methodology, companies can standardize and develop more training opportunities and deliver better and safer working environments.

Furthermore, it allows workers to be unsupervised as they learn, which further minimizes the safety risk and training costs.

With site and facility safety being such a significant priority at the company and industry level, it is well justified to invest in practically any technology that can enhance personnel wellbeing and reduce risk.

Besides the numerous benefits 3D laser scanning solutions yield in productivity, cost savings, regulatory verification accuracy, and quality compliance, the safety factor holds a significant added value. And when the risk mitigation potential is combined with the many other upsides, 3D laser scanning technology tends to make companies and industries more competitive and accountable.

5 Ways 3D Laser Scanners Can Improve Site and Facility Safety

There is no denying that 3D laser scanners have become familiar across the construction and oil and gas industry for several reasons, not to forget because of the accuracy and speed they offer over the traditional surveying methods.

However, most operators have begun to use the many benefits of 3D laser scanning solutions to their advantage, such as preventing incidents and ensuring job site safety. Here are 5 points that explain how companies can easily increase safety with 3D laser scanning solutions at a facility and/or job site.

1. Proactive Maintenance

3D laser scanners can produce incredibly detailed geometric depictions of a particular object, surface, or environment. It enables facility managers and engineers to locate hazards that they usually wouldn’t have been able to identify with traditional surveying equipment.

3D laser scans can be highly valuable in terms of proactive maintenance, as they help you to detect potential concerns before they turn out to be too challenging to handle.

2. Reducing Worker Exposure

You can run 3D laser scans from a safe distance, which ultimately eliminates the need for an entire survey crew to enter into potentially hazardous environments. This distant scan acts as a significant advantage if an event has caused many uncertain circumstances.

Scanning from a distance enables crews to measure a facility’s mechanical and structural integrity before sending in their workers to perform work on it.

3. Identifying Hazards

3D laser scans can quickly obtain access to areas conventional survey equipment can’t. A particular example of this would be recognizing dangerous conditions in a narrowed space or a crack in a pipeline. Some representations can also be produced in astonishing detail, which reduces the chances of inaccuracy because of human error.

4. Monitoring Change

3D laser scans have paved the way for a more competent documentation process. As the advancement of the entire construction process is better monitored, the alterations brought forward by environmental aspects like typhoons, strong winds, etc., can be more promptly addressed.

Project leaders can work together more efficiently through the data provided by laser scans and to arrive at better, more informed decisions. A 3D laser scan conducted in the initial phases of projects can be a starting point in scenarios where changes and/or shifts caused by environmental conditions are an issue.

With regularly scheduled scans, operators can observe these alterations to see if they are building an insecure environment. One example of this can be watching a dynamic process or environment with several moving parts.

5. Accurate As-Is or As-Built Documentation

Like any engineer would know, as-built drawings are almost always inaccurate and incomplete. On the other hand, using 3D laser scan data to generate as-builts will provide precise, fast, and as-is documentation.

Why Work With ScanTek On Your Upcoming Project?

When it comes to looking for the most trustworthy and dependable design and engineering firm, look no further. At ScanTek, we take great pride in lidar, reality capture technology, and 3D measurement solutions.

The 3D measurement and laser scanning solutions at ScanTek allow you to gather complex dimensions and data from the project site and/or facility’s sidelines.

We deal in a vast array of 3D laser scanning applications. Still, our objective is one: to offer safe, actionable, and accurate measurement solutions.

• Independently capture data in the most perplexing project environments & conditions - Improved Safety.

• Generate precise as-built measurements & documentation.

• Get accurate data & measurements quickly to make more thoughtful and well-informed decisions.

Get in touch with the ScanTek team to learn more about our solutions!