The Benefits of a Common Data Platform in Construction

A fully-integrated pre-induction, pre-enrolment and workforce management system has rapidly become the norm on many construction projects. However, sharing data, providing deeper integrations with wider digital systems and understanding the benefits of using operative data beyond access control and Time & Attendance reporting is a key step change that the construction industry needs to make. 

Integrating Workforce Management Systems with QHSE and Digital Planning tools can have far-reaching benefits across the supply chain that helps construction teams use workforce and project data in new ways to help save time and find safer ways of working. 

System integration and sharing data between these systems should go beyond benefitting project planners and data analysts. It should drive real, measurable benefits for those working directly on the construction projects. Not only should technology help to save time, but it should also improve safety for those working “at the coal face” as this will ultimately help drive better QHSE outcomes for construction projects as a whole. 

At DataScope, we provide modular, fully integrated systems that provide a powerful, common data platform. While integration can start before anyone arrives on site with pre-enrolment and pre-induction systems, our Time & Attendance system creates an operative profile which can be linked to live documents, permits, and planning tools, driving measurable benefits across the supply chain. 

We’ve pulled together some examples of system integrations that have proven to benefit construction teams throughout the construction lifecycle:

 

Linking operatives directly with live Permits and QHSE documents

Sites like Mercury‘s Hyperscale Data Centre project in The Netherlands, who use both our Time & Attendance and Digital Permits system, have been able to save significant time and develop safer ways of working by linking operative records directly with live permits in our system. 

Our Digital Permits system allows users to complete, manage and approve permit request forms in the field from any device, and our development team have worked to provide full integration with our Time & Attendance System. 

The integration works in multiple ways: Operatives carrying out the works can be selected from a pre-populated list and added to a permit. At the same time, the live permit is attributed to the operative’s record and access card, meaning site management teams can scan an operative’s QR code using our app and instantly view if they have a valid, live permit attributed to them to carry out the works or access a certain area, saving time for all parties and a clear digital audit trail. 

 

Digitising DABs – Using project data to save time and mitigate clashes on site

DataTouch is one of our flagship products in terms of providing multiple system integrations and is currently being used on projects spanning 4 continents. 

When used with a range of DataScope’s wider systems, DataTouch pulls operative, delivery, permits, assets, and RAMS data from our systems to help revolutionise Daily Activity Briefings. 

The software allows teams to visualise tasks of work by dragging and dropping tasks of work onto an interactive plan of site. Using data from wider systems, teams are able to visualise where live permits are in force, the location of plant and assets helping to identify and mitigate and potential clashes in real time. Tasks of work plotted on the DataTouch interface can be linked directly with these wider systems allowing users to drill down in to a task of work to interrogate high risk activities ensuring they have a valid permit and RAMS associated with them.

All data pulled from our wider systems and captured using DataTouch is amalgamated into an intelligent report that can be emailed out to site teams showing key tasks for a given day, high risk activities, planned deliveries, weather conditions and more. 

 

Online Induction and Site Briefings

We have recently worked with a key framework customer to provide new integration between two three of our existing systems: Time & Attendance, Online Inductions and our Briefings Platform.  

When a new operative is added to the system, they are automatically emailed a link to complete their online induction before arriving on site. Once the induction is complete, they are then invited to complete a medical questionnaire  on our Briefings Platform which asks a range of medical questions before they arrive on site. 

Both of these processes must be completed and passed by the individual before being able to attend their site induction. With key integration between the Time & Attendance database and these two systems, site teams are quickly able to establish whether an individual has passed/completed their induction and briefing by checking their record saving time for both the site team and the operatives ensuring a more efficient induction process. 

Looking Forward

DataScope is continuing to push forward with system developments integration across our entire product range to add further value for our customers and drive more QHSE benefits on construction projects. We believe that in the future, pulling usable project data from one common platform will ultimately help drive greater efficiency across future builds. Using this data to inform pre-planning decisions, identify problems that may occur and build intelligent workflows is key to a smooth and successful outcome. While we believe our systems will one day feed AI technologies to help manage the digital construction process, in the medium term we are constantly developing our systems to provide further integrations, new features and enhancements to drive added benefits for both our customers and those using our software on a daily basis.