Face the future

If you’re paying craftsmen top dollar you want to know you’re getting your money’s worth. And if the job is at a sensitive site, you want assurance that nobody’s there who shouldn’t be there.

These related concerns might push construction to adopt biometric identification, a suite of techniques that measure a person’s unique physical characteristics (see box). But so far the only UK company to adopt biometrics in a big way is Laing O’Rourke.

In 2000 O’Rourke, then a concrete subcontractor before buying Laing in 2001, was concerned about fraudulent wage activity such as buddy punching, where a worker clocks in for a mate who’s not actually there. The company began investigating a way to update its clocking-in system to incorporate face recognition.

Working with biometrics company Aurora it developed a system, called Clockface, which ensures that the people clocking in are who they say they are by analysing the unique dimensions of their face. Workers are given PIN numbers, which they punch into a terminal, and a camera captures their facial image. If the face doesn’t fit, the clocking in is denied, and a photo is taken of the individual.

After testing the system on one site, Laing O’Rourke rolled it out to several, including Heathrow’s Terminal Five (T5), the Scottish Parliament, Birmingham’s Bull Ring, Glasgow Airport and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. They then developed the system further so that it could produce timesheets. The company would not comment on how much it cost to set up the system or what its benefits have been.

Laing O’Rourke is the only construction firm in the UK using biometrics to this extent, but Aurora says it is working with at least five other contractors, both national and regional, on face-recognition systems. Some other companies employ biometrics where specific jobs require it, such as Amec’s paving team at T5.

People are right to be concerned. There is something a bit special about biometrics

David Smith, deputy information Commissioner

But the technology appears to be gaining ground in Asian construction. Starting this autumn 12,000 workers at a luxury casino project in Macao will have to pass through turnstiles and touch devices that read their hand dimensions. This ensures only registered workers get on site. The vendor of this system claimed that similar arrangements are used at more than 100 construction sites operated by several of the largest construction companies in Hong Kong.

To date, two-thirds of the world’s spend on biometrics comes from governments, according to Clive Reedman, chair of the International Association for Biometrics. But he predicts the private sector is poised to start snapping it up soon. Whether UK construction adopts biometrics in a big way for access control or time and attendance monitoring remains to be seen. For one thing, clock-in systems for payment are less interesting to main contractors, who have limited direct labour forces. Laing O’Rourke is unique in its origins as a specialist concrete contractor with a large direct labour force. It would have had a big financial incentive to combat payment fraud.

Another barrier is worker resistance. Biometrics can be unpopular because it is seen as intrusive. Last December the M&E union Amicus threatened legal action against Laing O’Rourke over its plans to introduce retina scanning at T5.

“People are right to be concerned. There is something a bit special about biometrics,” says David Smith, deputy commissioner at the Information Commissioner’s Office. He adds that the Data Protection Act calls for a sense of proportion when it comes to implementing biometrics. Firms pondering a system should ask how much they might really be expected to benefit. There may be savings to be made – but construction sites are not as sensitive as, say, nuclear power stations.