A Hong Kong start-up is using artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor construction workers and site conditions to minimise injuries and other accidents in a largely traditional business. Two Hong Kong engineers, both with experience in the construction industry, created viAct in 2016 after seeing potential to improve how construction sites are managed, according to co-founder and CEO Gary Ng. That is when they started reaching out to construction companies and pitching their AI analytics projects. The construction industry is “very behind in terms of technologies”, Ng told the South China Morning Post . “They don’t have data. They’re not using it, and they’re not seeing it.” By connecting on-site cameras to the company’s AI-based platform, viAct is able to “track human bodies, large machinery and materials”, according to co-founder and chief operating officer Hugo Cheuk. In situations such as workers failing to wear protective gear like helmets, goggles or masks, or when a person enters a restricted or dangerous area, the viAct system triggers an on-site alarm and sends a mobile app alert to workers and managers. “It’s an additional eye to monitor the whole construction site,” Cheuk said. While construction-related injuries have been declining in Hong Kong for most of the last decade, the industry has the highest accident rate and more fatalities than any other profession. The city had 2,532 industrial accidents in 2020, down from 2,947 the year before, according to statistics published by the city’s Labour Department. Work-related deaths were down to 40 from 51 in 2019. Last month, one woman died and three men were seriously injured after falling into an 8-metre-deep manhole at a sewage treatment plant on Lantau Island. Earlier this month, a construction worker was killed after concrete debris fell on his head while working on the historic State Theatre building in North Point, which is undergoing restoration funded by New World Development and scheduled to reopen in 2026. Chinese construction firms using AI to keep tabs on workers In cases involving old buildings, like the State Theatre, Cheuk said camera-enabled AI systems such as the one his company offers will continuously monitor construction to advise on whether there is enough protection for concrete slabs. When such protection is deemed lacking, it sends out an alert. If an accident does occur, the AI can monitor whether anyone is working in that dangerous area, according to Cheuk. The system will also monitor worker productivity, the founders said, using videos and images captured from the site to track and analyse a project’s progress. One way it does this is keeping count of the number of people, vehicles and machinery on site so that resources can be optimally allocated. It can also track worker activity, such as what tasks they have been working on and for how long. The founders insist that the system is not meant for micromanagement, one of the criticisms monitoring software has faced in other industries. Cheuk emphasised the system’s ability to track and solve problems like determining if someone is smoking in a non-smoking area or climbing a ladder, which is prohibited at construction sites. The system only tracks movement, Ng said, and cannot identify employees. “We don’t recommend clients track if people are lazy or not,” he said. In March this year, viAct raised US$2 million in a seed round co-led by Vectr Ventures and SOSV, with Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund among the other participating investors. Alibaba Group Holding owns the South China Morning Post . The company is now working with the Hong Kong government’s Drainage Services Department and the Civil Engineering and Development Department, along with MTR Corporation and Swire Properties. Their business grew more than 10 times in 2020, according to Ng, and it now has 50 clients and partners around Asia. The company is already eyeing an expansion to the rest of the Greater Bay Area , which includes mainland China’s Guangdong province and Macau. There are “tons of infrastructure and construction projects” happening in the region, Cheuk said. Even remote areas of Hong Kong and Shenzhen have ongoing subway development projects, he added.