Image: Workers with the three coloured armbands (NB photo taken before social distancing rules were implemented)
Balfour Beatty has developed a new Permit to Works armband system that uses QR codes to help supervisors determine that permits are properly completed.
The system, which is already being used on several of the contractor’s sites, sees workers issued with red armbands for hot works permits, blue bands for ladder permits, and green bands for permits to break ground.
Balfour Beatty said that the coloured armband system made it easier to identify if a permit has been issued to someone.
Meanwhile, the QR codes issued with the bands are linked directly to the relevant permits on Autodesk’s BIM360 Field software.
Site managers, supervisors and site safety advisors can scan the QR codes to ensure that the workers’ permits are properly completed and signed by all parties.
"The system means that operatives don’t have to carry around sheets of paper on a site which are exposed to the elements, as well as driving integration with BIM 360 and minimising the paper trails created on projects," said John Cairns, community benefits advisor at Balfour Beatty.
