Transforming Safety with Technology

India's digital landscape is evolving rapidly, marked by a significant surge in the digital footprint and escalating capital expenditure driving capacity expansion upwards of 4 GW by 2029, according to Mordor Research. This burgeoning need for data centers across industries has led to a surge in greenfield data center construction sites, demanding skilled manpower for construction and robust monitoring for seamless operation. Amidst this growth, ensuring safety emerges as paramount in safeguarding both on-time site delivery and the well-being of all involved. 

With Adani Group’s 25-year legacy of infrastructure development in India and EdgeConneX’s global experience in the data center industry, AdaniConneX is committed to building digital infrastructure with state-of-the-art built-to-suit solutions at scale with speed and safety tailored to meet evolving digital demands. 

As we aim to scale in India, instilling a safety-first culture has become our foremost priority. This commitment is backed by substantial investments in people, process, and technology as we undertake the construction of data centers pivotal to fueling India’s digital growth.  

Driven by innovation, we've introduced a stack of cutting-edge technologies designed to enhance safety, efficiency, and collaboration across our data center construction sites. These investments are reshaping traditional approaches to safety monitoring, training, and deployment, ushering in a new era of efficiency and innovation. 

AI-Powered Safety in Data Center Construction: 
Data center construction poses an imperative need for vigilant monitoring to successfully manage safety practices, encouraging workers to assess risks, pay attention to potential hazards, and mitigate unsafe behaviors and human errors.  

We have introduced one of its kind purpose-built AI-based safety analytics tool. This digital approach with its ever-watchful eye empowers data-driven safety decisions, thereby ensuring continuous enhancement of safety protocols. It has reduced on-site safety violations and enhanced worker awareness earning recognition and awards including the prestigious Gold Skoch ESG award.  

This innovative tool is trained with 8 safety categories encompassing work at height, ground disturbance & access egress, hot work, vehicle safety, personal protective equipment, hazard communication, housekeeping & material handling, and lifting & hoisting and is exposed to over 100 scenarios on a custom neural network model, enabling rigorous real-time monitoring of progress. 

The data center construction site is divided into zones, each led by a designated zonal leader. It identifies safety noncompliance across functional zones and captures photographs along with 10-second videos of deviations. This automated HSSE monitoring tool recommends corrective actions on detected deviations, triggering a 5-level escalation to management-level teams on a centralized dashboard, ensuring swift resolution by zonal heads facilitating real-time automated responses and adherence to safety guidelines.  

The dashboard offers daily, weekly & monthly safety analytics that help identify patterns, predict potential risks, enable customized data analysis for faster responses, data-driven decision-making, and strict compliance with HSE requirements. 

This AI-powered tool is a vital component of our comprehensive safety strategy and is implemented across our data center construction sites to maintain the highest standards. 

Elevating Safety at Site with Virtual Reality: 
In a data center construction site, skill development plays a crucial role. Comprehensive safety training for high-risk activities is essential for providing the workers with knowledge, skills, and awareness to identify potential hazards and proactively mitigate risks.  

Our state-of-the-art Virtual Reality (VR) training program provides immersive learning experiences to the workers. The training program covers an exhaustive range of modules on high-risk activities such as working at heights, lockout tagout, material handling, hot work, excavation safety and more ensuring better preparedness. 

The intuitive VR training program is an effective mix of conventional training methods and the latest technological advancements allowing the workforce to navigate through adverse, hazardous scenarios within a controlled environment.  

The workers must go through the interactive quizzes and site-specific guidelines reinforcing learning outcomes and redefining conventional safety training thereby preparing our workers for unforeseen challenges.  

Leading The Way with DABs And E-Permits for Enhanced Safety: 
In the dynamic landscape of construction, where precision and efficiency are indispensable, digitizing the construction planning process is essential in proactive project management. Daily Activity Briefing Systems (DABS) and E-Permits streamline the modern project planning process by adhering to safety standards.   

DABS is a cross-functional planning tool that facilitates daily briefings and aligns contractors with their respective work areas a day in advance. It visualizes the layout of work areas and displays hotspots marked for complete exclusion or overlapping operations to proactively identify potential clashes in work areas through an interactive site plan.  

E-work permits is a digital documented management system with specific procedures for requesting, recording, reviewing, and authorizing tasks for designated workforce. It provides clear and structured communication about executing tasks, emphasizing the necessary safety precautions and protective measures at every step.  

The integration of E-Permits enables us to digitize the physical work permit system, aligning all stakeholders, thereby reducing time, improving accountability, and facilitating transparency. The paperless nature of this digital transformation results in better operational workflows. 

Fostering a concrete safety culture and level of preparedness holds the workforce in good stead, enhancing project efficiency while contributing to a safer working environment. 

Integrating a culture of safety and compliance across every endeavor 

The seamless integration of AI and VR, along with robust DABS and E-Permits Systems, is pivotal in designing and developing mission-critical data center infrastructure. 

As we continue to evolve and adapt, we aim to increase productivity and sculpt the landscape of digital innovation. We firmly believe that our commitment to “Zero Harm, Zero Leak” and the continuous improvement of our data center infrastructure will pave the way for a secure and modern work environment. 

By embracing innovation and leveraging data-driven insights, we at AdaniConneX not only enhance project efficiency and mitigate risks but also cultivate a culture of safety where every individual is empowered to uphold the highest safety standards, ensuring the well-being of our workforce as a whole and the success of our projects for years to come. 

Read more about the safety culture and innovations at AdaniConneX.