Laing O’Rourke
Winning Year(s): 2018
Industry: Property, Construction & Transport
2018 Innovation Name: Toolbox Spotter
Awards: 16th Most Innovative Company
Employees: 500+
In 2015, nearly 200 Australians were killed and 107,000 injured on work sites, causing an estimated impact of $62 billion. Lack of spotting, distraction, and lapses in attention were key factors in 84% of these injuries. Providing more human spotters is costly, along with being logistically and organisationally challenging. We have taken a camera and taught it to identify people and objects. We call it the Toolbox Spotter.
The Toolbox Spotter is always watching, and tells us when people or equipment are in danger so that we can prevent injuries. If it sees that someone might get hit by a big piece of equipment, it alerts the necessary people, or immediately turns the engine off. We often put a Spotter on the back of large equipment, like cranes and trucks, where there is a risk that the driver will hit someone or something.