Safety is an ever-present challenge for industrial facility managers. While sectors like construction and manufacturing are inherently hazardous, new technologies offer innovative ways to address them. By learning to use tools like 3D scanning effectively, management can reduce on-site injuries throughout their workflows.

3D scanning involves measuring an area, structure or object with a laser system to create a detailed digital replica. These scans, in turn, can provide crucial safety insights if managers know how to implement them properly.

There are seven ways industrial organizations can improve their operational safety with this technology.

1. Proactive Risk Identification

Surveying a worksite for hazards is one of the simplest yet most impactful ways to boost safety through 3D laser scans. Risk identification is a foundational part of many safety strategies, but conventional tools can miss subtle warning signs. 3D laser measurements offer greater reliability, helping teams spot hazards before they cause potential injuries.

Laser scanners can detect cracks as small as one millimeter with up to 96% accuracy without taking much longer than older methods. The combination of ease of use and precision means teams can spot risks more effectively before beginning work.

This application is particularly valuable for new construction projects, but other heavy equipment industries can benefit from it, too. Daily inspections can use 3D scans to watch for equipment damage, judge worksite conditions or identify faulty products before a shift begins.

2. Lower Hazard Exposure

3D measurements have another advantage in pre-work risk identification — workers can perform them from a distance. While this distinction may seem small, it puts room between employees and potential hazards. As a result, injuries related to risks like cracked structural supports or malfunctioning machinery are less likely.

Of course, not every safety evaluation is possible to perform with a laser scanner. Electrical and temperature-related dangers, for example, may not show up on most laser measurements. However, physical warning signs like cracks or unusual movement will appear. Construction, mining and similar sectors with varying working conditions will benefit most from this use case.

3. Digital Simulation

Advanced 3D measurement systems take risk monitoring even further. Facility managers can use the data from scans to build digital twins of their workplaces or equipment. In turn, these virtual recreations of real-world systems and objects enable scenario simulation to test workflows before encountering unexpected dangers in real life.

Virtually testing a new operation or machine setup in a digital twin lets managers see how scenarios may go wrong without suffering any real-world consequences. By the same token, they can identify the safest way forward without trial and error. These benefits mean companies using digital twins today reduce development costs and time while optimizing performance.

Keep in mind that digital twins work best when connected to real-time data sources. Consequently, businesses should implement continuous 3D scanning systems to maximize the benefits of this application.

4. In-Depth Maintenance

One specific digital twin use case deserving extra attention is predictive maintenance. This involves monitoring a twin of mission-critical equipment in real time to predict when it will need repair. As a result, technicians can fix the machine before a larger breakdown and without time-consuming — and often unnecessary — maintenance-related downtime.

3D scans can reveal signs of wear and tear that may not be outwardly visible. Consequently, using them to inform predictive maintenance routines means organizations can prevent malfunctions further in advance. In addition to cost savings, such proactiveness results in lower risks of equipment-related injuries.

5. Heightened Accuracy

Consider how 3D scanning is more accurate than many other risk identification and measurement methods. A manual inspection and walk-through is certainly better than nothing, but it leaves considerable room for error. 3D scans, by contrast, provide a 100% accurate representation of the area they measure, ensuring all safety data is reliable.

Minimizing points of error is crucial, as any mistakes will compound as the process continues. Any actions based on an incorrect measurement or transcription of the measurement will be faulty from the beginning. By providing higher precision and removing the need for manually writing numbers down, 3D scans prevent such errors.

As reliable as lasers are, no technology is perfect. Businesses wanting to make the most of this precision must properly calibrate their scanning equipment before each job. Failing to do so could lead to over-confidence in potentially faulty readings.

6. Ongoing Hazard Documentation

Because 3D scanning is so precise, it’s an ideal tool for ongoing monitoring. Any differences between an initial scan and future recordings, however subtle, will be visible. Analyzing these discrepancies over time makes it easier for managers to keep track of how hazards may evolve throughout the workplace.

Ongoing documentation is particularly helpful in dynamic work environments like active construction sites. Conditions can change from day to day and even minute to minute, but some shifts are difficult to spot with the naked eye. Repeated laser scans offer the insight companies need to stay on top of developing hazards.

Building inspections benefit heavily from this application, too. Lasers can identify cracking concrete with an error margin below 0.57 millimeters, so any deterioration over time would be immediately evident, informing when structural repairs may be necessary.

7. Informed Communication

A more easily overlooked advantage of 3D scans is that they facilitate streamlined communication. Any experienced manager knows that true safety is only possible when all stakeholders are aware of relevant hazards. Consequently, everyone must be able to access a single source of truth to stay on the same page, and that’s easier with digital tools.

3D scans produce a complete digital file that employees can send to other workers or managers without transcribing or translating anything. As a result, data entry errors are no longer a factor. Digital communication is also faster than other methods, especially if businesses upload their measurements and simulations to a cloud-based platform for real-time remote access.

Optimize Safety Without Sacrificing Efficiency

Conventional measurements and manual workflows have too much room for error to be reliable in high-sensitivity work environments. Facility managers in these areas must recognize the benefits of 3D scanning equipment. Learning to use such technology is the first step to optimizing operational safety without sacrificing efficiency.