To promote smart management and technology-based disaster prevention in construction safety, the Center for Occupational Accident Prevention and Rehabilitation (COAPRE) and the Department of Labor of the Taoyuan City Government jointly held the 2025 Smart Construction Site and Technology-Based Disaster Prevention Observation Tour today (October 31) at the construction site of the Taoyuan Guishan Civil Sports Center. The event brought together nearly a hundred representatives from industry, government, academia, and the construction sector, showcasing multiple smart technologies for construction site safety management. These demonstrations highlighted the tangible results of integrating technology into construction management to strengthen disaster prevention and mitigation.

In recent years, the construction industry has experienced frequent occupational accidents, affecting not only business operations and social stability but also discouraging young workers from entering the field, resulting in a severe labor shortage. Traditional site management relies heavily on manual inspection, making it difficult to holistically monitor high-risk working environments. Therefore, the adoption of smart technologies has become an essential trend to enhance site safety and disaster-prevention efficiency. The development of smart construction and technology-based disaster prevention represents a key response to the dual challenges of natural disasters and occupational safety. By applying artificial intelligence (AI), sensors, big data analytics, and automated monitoring, the approach shifts construction sites from passive disaster response to proactive prevention. This transformation not only safeguards workers’ safety and reduces economic losses but also drives the construction industry toward smarter and more sustainable development.

To strengthen disaster prevention capabilities at construction sites, the first session of the observation tour was held in Taoyuan, marking the beginning of six scheduled observation activities throughout the year. In his remarks, Deputy Mayor Su Jun-Bin noted that Taoyuan is the fastest-growing city among Taiwan’s six special municipalities. With rapid progress in both public infrastructure and private construction projects, the construction industry faces high-risk and high-pressure working environments, making the need for occupational safety protection more urgent than ever. He emphasized that finding ways to leverage technology to assist on-site management, reduce risks, and prevent accidents is a key challenge that both the municipal government and the construction industry must address together.

This observation tour showcased a range of AI-powered disaster prevention systems and innovative technologies, including an access control and environmental monitoring system, real-time personnel positioning system, steel structure assembly monitoring system, smart safety inspection app, elevator shaft safety control system, Building Information Modeling (BIM) application system, drone-based real-time voice inspection system, overheight-prevention device for aerial work platforms, intelligent image recognition hoisting safety monitoring system, and solar-powered shading and cooling devices. These systems not only enhance real-time monitoring and decision-making efficiency at construction sites but also offer advantages such as reasonable implementation costs and flexible operation. They are highly applicable to small- and medium-sized projects as well, demonstrating the tangible results and broad potential of smart disaster prevention technologies.

In his address, COAPRE CEO Lee Po-Chang stated that the construction industry has long been one of the sectors in Taiwan with the highest occupational accident risks. Each incident serves as a stark reminder that “safety is not only a matter of management systems but also a fusion of culture and technology.” He emphasized that COAPRE, upholding its mission of “preventing occupational accidents and rebuilding hope,” actively supports the Ministry of Labor’s policies by promoting various initiatives in occupational accident prevention, consulting, education, training, and advocacy. Through improvements in systems, management, and workplace culture, COAPRE strives to create a safer working environment to ensure that every worker can “go to work safely and return home healthy.”

The joint organization of this observation tour by COAPRE and the Taoyuan City Government Department of Labor marks an important milestone in collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors to advance occupational accident prevention. Looking ahead, COAPRE will continue to work closely with central and local governments, industry associations, and academic institutions to promote a diverse safety culture and establish autonomous safety management systems. COAPRE also aims to support the construction industry in adopting technological applications to jointly build safer, smarter, and more sustainable worksites.

The Smart Construction Site and Technology-Based Disaster Prevention Observation Tour not only demonstrates the practical achievements of technological innovation in the construction sector but also embodies the shared vision of government, industry, and academia toward enhancing worksite safety. Through the parallel advancement of smart technologies and professional management, COAPRE remains committed to protecting workers’ safety and realizing the goal of ensuring that everyone can “go to work safely and return home healthy.”