Case Study

David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Overview

Volpatt Construction, one of Western Pennsylvania’s top contractors, was renovating a 40,000-square-foot public terrace on the Downtown side of the convention center that doubles as a ﬂat roof.

It has been plagued by “water inﬁltration issues” for years, causing rain water to seep into public concourses and common areas within the convention center itself, said Mary Conturo, SEA executive director.

The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County authority has spent money in the past making repairs to the terrace to stop the leaks, but it has been advised by engineering consultant Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. that doing so is no longer practical

“It’s to the point where it
makes more sense to replace
it than to spend more money
to try to repair it,” Ms. Conturo said.

Volpatt Construction
saved 20% on Workmans
Comp insurance by using
this technology

“It was leaking in spots. We
kept repairing it, but it’s
gotten to the point where we needed to replace it,” added state Sen. Wayne Fontana, SEA board chairman. The fourth-ﬂoor terrace is one of several ﬂat roofs at the convention center that have been a source of leaks since the $373 million venue opened its doors in 2003.

Connect Up brings both safety and innovation to the construction industry and is helping to redeﬁne the way we optimize our workforce and reduce our incident rates. The technology not only differentiates what we bring to every project, it positively impacts the rates we pay for insurance. In addition, the data we’re collecting is helping us modify how we staff projects which is saving both time and money.

Raymond Volpatt Jr.

Background

The team at Volpatt Construction understands that its most valuable asset is the people that make up the company's workforce. With this in mind, they’ve committed to maintaining a working environment that is free from conditions that may be detrimental to employee’s health and to comply with all regulations set forth by OSHA as they pertain to the industry.

With this in mind, they partnered with Connect Up Technologies to provide the workforce with wearable technology designed for high risk industries. These wearable devices coupled with bluetooth beacons added a layer of protection to the rooftop that is critical in maintaining a safe environ-ment for the on site team.

Challenges

Volpatt Construction had several challenges on this project. First and foremost was the danger of working on a sloped rooftop. In addition trying to monitor the safety of their workforce on multiple sites remotely adds additional complexities.

Proximity Sensors

placed around the rooftop to alert workers of PPE zone.

Slip, Trip, and Fall Detection for workers.

Digital Huddle and Safety procedures pushed to workforce.

Check In/Out Feature

with heatmaps of workforce locations.

Geofenced Hazard Zones around the rooftop and worksite.

Solution

Connect Up's safety solution solved all of the challenges that Volpatt had on this worksite.

In addition, the technology was able to detect an accident and notify the supervisors and owners at the moment of the incident.