Virginia Tech Expert Calls for Automating Away Construction Hazards, Not Just Managing Them
According to Construction Dive, Brian Kleiner, director of Virginia Tech’s Myers-Lawson School of Construction, argues that personal protective equipment and hazard-warning systems are insufficient to prevent construction fatalities. In an opinion piece, Kleiner points to 850 U.S. work zone fatalities in 2024, citing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and calls on the industry and academia to pursue complete hazard elimination through automation and redesign rather than continuing to rely on barriers that are, as he put it, “bound to eventually fail.”
What It Means for Subcontractors
- PPE and sensor-based gear are valuable but not a liability shield. If a task puts workers in a hazardous zone, the exposure itself is the problem, and clients and GCs may increasingly expect subcontractors to demonstrate engineering controls, not just compliance checklists.
- Work zone operations are under scrutiny. With 850 fatalities in 2024, highway and roadway subcontractors should expect tighter regulatory and contractual pressure around automated traffic control and physical separation of workers from live traffic.
- Automation investment may become a competitive differentiator. Subcontractors who can show they’ve redesigned dangerous tasks out of their workflows, rather than just trained workers to survive them, will be better positioned as safety expectations rise.
