The topic of the last few weeks has been contact tracing—not just in the construction industry but everywhere, from the highest levels of government down to individual families. As such, countless tech companies and lots of non-tech companies are at work inventing and investing in next generation systems, gadgets and apps to make contact tracing part of the new norm.

While many of these solutions will offer a measure of comfort and protection to those using them, the high-tech nature of most contact tracing tools may prove problematic for the construction industry. Things like wearables, “internet of things” devices or biometrics might work for individuals but, for project purposes, simplicity is the key to success for these reasons:

1. Uncertainty: It is not yet known how long the pandemic will last, or how long the construction industry will be impacted. It’s comforting to know that construction was deemed essential in many areas and is considered a “phase 1” activity for reopening in others, but the timing of going “back to work” is still being debated. There is also uncertainty around how the safety guidelines—both personal and professional—will evolve. Firms will want to deploy technology that can adapt to the guidelines in real time.
2. Urgency: While the construction industry has been known to adopt technology at a slower pace, COVID-19 presents an immediate problem that may require contact tracing as teams get back to work. In order to be a useful and successful tool for the industry, contact tracing will need to be immediately available, and immediately implemented, with as little training required by as few people as possible.
3. The dynamics of construction: The nature of construction makes it nearly impossible to create “perfect” solutions. GPS, wearables and internet of things devices do not display who touched the metal door handle or plastic porta-john before you. On a construction site, the potential for similar scenarios where the distance in “social distancing” simply isn’t possible or effective is abundant. But by implementing common sense safeguards with effective tools, the workplace can begin to function safely once more.
4. Public health and employee awareness: Safety is paramount in the construction industry and companies have always had policies in place to clearly meet and exceed OSHA standards. Enter COVID-19 and the unknown. Still lacking enough data to truly “engineer” new policies that contractors can have complete confidence in, it is difficult to imagine how these new standards will be set. Will companies follow CDC guidelines? Will states have more stringent policies? What if a company works across multiple states? In the absence of a holistic and detailed set of federal protocols, companies will likely need to determine how to protect and promote a safe work environment for their jobsite and office employees. A contact tracing tool that identifies who is at risk will empower management to confidently make decisions to keep their teams safe.

What is useful for the construction industry are cost-effective tools that allow administrators and safety personnel visibility to data they need today. Tools to screen workers and trace employee movements back in time with minimal requirements (and if possible, no training) for the team on the ground. Tools that use hardware a contractor might already own.

Everyone is eager to get back to work—and safety is paramount to keep jobsites open for the long haul. Contact tracing should be a part of that effort—but contractors need to keep the culture of the construction industry in mind and rely on solutions that can be both deployed quickly and used appropriately without creating fear or unnecessary delays. For that, the industry doesn’t need to invent the next big system; it is simply necessary to build and implement tools (we may already have) that can meet our teams where they are: on the jobsite.