Imagine a world in which construction workers' daily routine includes gaining access to their jobsites only after a machine scans the unique biological makeup of their irises or the geometry of their hands. In conjunction with the biometric scan, a security-pass lanyard is used. Each security pass carries a worker's information, including all the worker's credentials, OSHA certifications, ethnicity, gender—and even their home zip code. Multiply that scenario by 9,000 daily workers and you have a snapshot of the security technology deployed for the construction of London's 500-acre Olympic Park. For the 120,000 workers employed on the four-year project, this was a daily ritual, custom-built by the Olympic Park's security consultants.
The Olympic Park project may have been unique in the sheer scale of its use of biometric scans, but it's not the only jobsite using scanning technology to improve security. More construction projects are borrowing a page from the security industry and building new-age devices that solve many real construction problems while pushing the envelope of innovation. Is it worth the investment? Yes, if done right and designed for the scale and needs of your project, experts say.