Effects Of Automation On Workers In Construction

The construction industry is growing rapidly, more advanced methods are required in order to get the job done, and in most instances workers are unable to carry out task that are at hand thus the need for technological advancement, robotic and automation. As we enter the fourth industrial revolution it is almost impossible to ignore the fact that automation is needed. Furthermore economist argue that the effects of introducing technology to the construction industry to escalate productivity may result in job loss, thus mankind will ultimately be unemployed. In contrast, there is significant amount of people that will dispute that, even if automation will displace some laborers, the shift in technology forms a demand for labor.

Countries such as the United States and China are mostly affected by automation in general, and most of these automation causes worker displacement. According to the Oxford University researchers over 47 percent of United States jobs might be automated in the following twenty years .In the construction industry the automation merely replace workers but it rather enhances their work and cut out any inaccuracies that the worker could not have possibly been aware of. Automation is meant to make building easy, and with advancement of automation more skilled workers are needed to operate the machines. As we approach the fourth industrial revolution, infrastructure and enhancements will be need to cater for the new found demand. The construction industry is a highly capital industry, there has been a recent increase of capital in this industry. For instance, robotic bricklayer that called the semi-automated Mason short for SAM was created by the New York based Construction Robotics whereas another Company, Fastbricks Robotics made a robotic bricklayer called Hadrian X. These robotic bricklayers combined can lay over four-thousand bricks in a day and a manual labor can lay 500 bricks daily. A Road printer: this machine can lay pavement like mat, and it lays over four-hundred yards of road per day, and on the other hand it needs about three operators this means cutting labor. These bricklayers has reduced the amount of workers that usually lay bricks and has increased productivity by a huge margin, this is good for business but is it really benefiting the workers? Workers in construction cannot detect error with their naked eyes, to avoid such discrepancies machinery such as Virtual Reality (AR) come into existence, these robotics can detect faulty construction from afar, and ahead of time. The new discoveries in robotics has made both the public and private construction easier, they are fast and precise something that a manual worker takes long to do, they perform work efficiently, and they reduce the costs, Tripling the final product for construction firms. When it comes to health and safety of the workers the VR has significantly reduced injuries and fatalities but also replaced physical labor. China has diversity when it comes to automation in construction, automation is quicker and inexpensive, a company in china-Winson has built ten houses and a six-story building using 3D printer, this machine uses a combination of concrete and waste on site. It uses sixty percent material cost and it requires minus eighty percent of physical labor (Jill manzo, 2018). These advancements have consequently made construction a more capital driven industry and less labor rigorous, as a result of these innovations the Economic Forum has predicted that over Five-hundred-thousand employments will be compromised by the year 2020 (Jill manzo, 2018). As time goes by construction laborers globally will be out of work, as well as In the United States. It is evident that in the generations to come, the construction industry will be broad in terms of automation and robotics. While in the present day, workers perform their task in hostile conditions, they are the ones controlling these machines. If the capital increases and the technological advancements are increasing then human beings will control these machines from a distance in the next two decades, Mankind will merely work in the maintenance of these machines that build the tall and mighty building better known as the skyscrapers.

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To every downside there is an upside, although many argue that these technological advancement are a major threat to our jobs in general, the construction industry is not an exception. These machines are accurate but they are just mere machines that are controlled by humans, and to many peoples surprise they cut out labor hours and they reduce the stress that may be experienced by workers. Human hands are needed to modify other things in the construction industry although they take up a lot of time and are costly they are not redundant. We are slowly approaching the fourth industrial, the construction industry is becoming more advanced and as a result the need for more skilled workers is inevitable, Machines do not pose as a threat to workers in construction but is there enough skills in the construction industry to control these machines? Machines will always be there and they perform jobs that can be strenuous and fatal for workers, that is good news to construction workers. Traditional methods have proven to be effective in the past and although they were effective, the always put workers health and safety at risk.

In conclusion, the highly intensive capital and technological advancement in the construction industry is both a blessing and a curse. Automation is created to work alongside the construction workers, without control it is merely an object occupying space. It is good for business, cuts labor hours, and reduces emotional distress that is experienced in the working space. As much as it cut costs and is efficient and effective, it displaces work and it needs less labor to perform a task, leaving other workers out of jobs. Only the skilled workers are left to control these machines, but they too perform minimal work, and that ultimately result in minimal wages and stress. More people in the construction industry need to be informed and educated about these machines lest the construction industry will be unbalanced and thus negatively impact the economy of the world entirely.