Pioneering Digital Innovation in Health, Safety, and Sustainability for the 2022 Digital Construction Awards

Introduction
Paperless Construction has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2022 Digital Construction Awards in the category of "Digital Innovation in Health, Safety, and Wellbeing." The construction industry has faced numerous challenges in recent years, including the demand for sustainability, carbon emissions reduction, and waste management, while struggling with low digitization, cost overruns, and time inefficiencies. Paperless Construction, in collaboration with Eurovia Contracting, took on these challenges during the Coventry City Council Retail Quarter project between March 2020 and October 2021. Together, they sought to enhance productivity and sustainability, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing.

Challenges
The construction industry has been slow to adapt to corporate responsibility demands and increasing regulations. Eurovia Contracting aimed to digitize its construction activities and reduce paper usage to boost productivity. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic further emphasized the need for contactless processes, including timekeeping and briefings, to ensure social distancing. The goal was to overcome these challenges by implementing Paperless Construction Apps that could automate manual tasks, enhance efficiency, minimize waste, and provide an instant audit trail.
Solution and Benifits
Paperless Construction's innovative features played a crucial role in addressing the challenges. The company's apps seamlessly automated various tasks, such as site briefings, checking training competencies, issuing permits to work, and capturing exposure hours. By providing an easy-to-use mobile app, workers could quickly adapt to digital processes with minimal training, while management and administrative roles received more comprehensive training to ensure effective usage. Paperless and Eurovia's digital team offered unlimited support throughout the 18-month project, ensuring a smooth transition to digital workflows.
The positive results and ease of implementation have led other Eurovia group companies, supply chains, and subcontractors to adopt Paperless for their own briefing and checklist procedures. With nearly 6000 user records and competencies digitized, along with 16,000 safety briefings recorded through Paperless, the benefits extend throughout Eurovia's operations, promoting safer and more efficient ways of working.
Conclusion
As the 2022 Digital Construction Awards approach, we wish all the other shortlisted entries the best of luck.
"Embracing digital innovation is not just about saving time and money; it's about building a sustainable future for the construction industry. At Paperless Construction, we believe that every step towards a paperless environment is a step closer to a greener, safer, and more efficient tomorrow." - Raymond Castelyn, Founder of Paperless Construction
Other Shortlisted Companies include:
- Fit For Work | fitforwork.ai
- Rochdale Town Hall Project – Phase 1/1A | Safer Sphere with Rochdale Borough Council, Rochdale Development Agency, and HH Smith Contractor
- SkillShield | Make Real and Keltbray
- The Living Lab | Ethos Engineering
- UCL Pearl Project – A building to house the world | UCL Civil Engineering Dept & Estates Development Dept, Transport for London, with Penoyre & Prasad Architects, Aecom, Volker Fitzpatrick, Atkins, Turner & Townsend, Stantec, BIMSafe and Briggs & Forrester Facilities Management




