Led by OPPBTP, CCCA-BTP, and the Excellence SMA Foundation, in partnership with Impulse Partners, the Construction Health & Prevention Innovation Lab is entering a new phase. Its goal is to strengthen health and prevention measures in the construction and public works sector through a collaborative innovation approach that closely addresses the needs expressed by companies and training organizations.

Created in 2018, the Health & Prevention Innovation Lab for the Construction Industry was established with the mission of “boosting innovation in prevention and safety on construction sites.” By fostering connections between construction companies, training organizations, and start-ups, the initiative acts as a prevention accelerator, enabling industry stakeholders to adopt innovative solutions to improve occupational health and safety. Today, the “Lab” is entering a new stage and now relies on direct feedback from the field to identify priorities and guide the search for solutions. “The Lab’s partners wanted to renew both the themes and the approach in order to better reflect changes in the sector and the needs of construction stakeholders. This new momentum will make it possible to address prevention issues with a fresh perspective, aligned with on-the-ground realities,” explains Fabienne Tiercelin, Managing Director of the Excellence SMA Foundation. In practical terms, companies and training organizations now help co-build an annual roadmap by sharing their challenges. This participatory approach pursues a threefold objective: identifying the real issues faced by companies; exploring new topics; and co-creating an annual roadmap that closely reflects field expectations.

Defining a Roadmap...

The new version of the Lab therefore held an initial working session, bringing together around twenty companies and training organizations of all sizes and from all trades* (structural works, civil engineering, telecom networks, public works, climate engineering, etc.). Participants were able to discuss their experiences, daily challenges, and needs for improving health and safety on construction sites. These discussions highlighted four major categories of needs and around thirty related topics:

• Mental health and well-being, to train and support supervisors in identifying and managing difficult situations, develop caring management approaches, and provide tools for assessing workplace well-being.

• Prevention culture and risk awareness, to establish simple and shared safety routines, strengthen the educational impact and effectiveness of training programs, and involve all hierarchical levels in an active prevention culture.

• Safety alerts on construction sites and in the field, to reduce collisions between machinery and pedestrians, detect risky situations in real time through AI and connected sensors, and secure interventions in isolated or difficult-to-access areas.

• Worker assistance, to improve working conditions on construction sites, prevent MSDs (musculoskeletal disorders), control dust exposure, adapt to extreme heat, reduce noise pollution, and preserve workers’ health and comfort.

... to Deliver Concrete Solutions

Following this first stage, the Lab team and Impulse Partners launched an extensive monitoring and sourcing effort involving a wide range of innovative start-ups and SMEs to identify technological, organizational, and educational solutions capable of addressing the needs expressed. Some of these solutions (which were presented on November 27 during an event open to the entire industry) will be tested in the field, with feedback and results expected this year.

Towards a Sustainable Innovation Culture in Construction

With this new momentum, the Health & Prevention Innovation Lab for the Construction Industry is establishing itself as a collective driver of sustainable transformation within the sector. By relying on feedback from stakeholders, it creates a virtuous cycle linking field experience, innovation, and prevention. “When it comes to innovation, the ideal approach is to question the field, enrich ideas through collective reflection and experimentation, and deliver practical solutions,” concludes Thiébault Clément, Technical Director of OPPBTP. “This is the very purpose of our new approach: transforming operational needs into tangible, high-performing, and immediately applicable advances, while strengthening the safety of construction teams.” In the long term, this collaborative approach could well inspire other sectors facing the same challenge: reconciling performance, safety, and well-being at work.

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