Digital Construction

Laing O’Rourke leads the way on digital safety

To tackle the longstanding issues of inefficiency, risk and non-compliance in traditional RAMS (risk assessment method statement) briefings, Laing O’Rourke developed e-RAMS, a custom-built digital RAMS briefing register app. Created in-house using Microsoft Power Apps, the solution was deployed in partnership with subsidiaries Expanded Structures, Expanded Geotechnical, Crown House Technologies and Vetter.

What the judges said

“A powerful tool that provides live visibility across the project, eliminates information silos, and empowers health and safety teams to act proactively. This innovative approach demonstrates how organisations can create scalable, cost-effective solutions with tangible health and safety benefits across multiple projects.”

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Traditional RAMS processes were manual, paper-heavy and vulnerable to loss and error. Workers might miss critical safety updates, while site managers had limited visibility of who had been briefed – posing safety and compliance risks, and making audits laborious. Paper signatures were often outdated, and RAMS matrices could be a week behind.

The e-RAMS solution offers real-time visibility, secure digital sign-offs, and live tracking of worker briefings through seamless integration with Asite, Azure SQL and Power BI. A green/amber traffic light system visually flags outdated or missing sign-offs – an intuitive cue especially useful for non-English speakers. The system connects directly to site turnstiles, automatically populating the RAMS matrix with new personnel for instant compliance tracking.

Administrative time cut

The app cuts administrative tasks dramatically. Across a project with 800 personnel, e-RAMS cut administrative time for site managers by more than 80%, saving eight hours weekly or 416 hours annually, which equals £16,640 saved per site over a year.

Other finalists

Countess of Chester Hospital Dalkia Engineering/Hilti Corporation

Electricity Transmission Substation Site Visits AtkinsRéalis

T2 Baggage Programme Heathrow/Aecom

Moata Safe by Design Mott MacDonald

Signal Operator Rostering System Flannery Plant

Audit durations dropped from three days to half a day, saving £5,000 per audit. Staffing requirements for compliance monitoring were reduced by 60%. Workforce briefing accuracy rose from 75% to 98%. Safety non-compliance incidents decreased by 30%. Data errors fell by 85%.

In total, Laing O’Rourke estimates that e-RAMS delivers up to £150,000 in annual savings per project. The flexibility and low-code architecture of e-RAMS make it scalable across future projects, enabling continuous improvement without costly redevelopment. Built with end-user input from across the supply chain, the tool is practical, robust and already reshaping safety culture across Laing O’Rourke sites.

The innovation empowers teams, enhances wellbeing, and demonstrates what’s possible when construction safety is reimagined through strategic digital innovation.

Duncan Evans, digital capability lead, Laing O’Rourke, said: "This award reflects our investment in innovation across Laing O’Rourke, especially through teams like Expanded and Crown House, who drive new ways of working in health and safety."

Read about the rest of the winners.

The Digital Construction Awards are organised by Digital Construction Week, CIOB, Construction Management and Digital Construction Plus. To find out more about the Awards and enquire about sponsorship or entering next year’s event, visit digitalconstructionawards.co.uk.

Generative artificial intelligence was used to help with the creation of this article. All content in the article was sourced, checked and verified by our editorial team before publication.