BLS does not break out demolition in its 2024 industry table. It does show construction at 1,034 fatal injuries, 389 of them falls, slips and trips, and 161 contact incidents (Table A-1). Demolition sits inside that total. This post sticks to what regulators have published.
What OSHA requires
OSHA's demolition page names the hazards: structural changes from the original design, hazardous materials hidden in structural members such as lead, asbestos and silica, unknown strengths such as post-tensioned concrete, and hazards created by the demolition method. Under 29 CFR 1926.850, a competent person must survey the structure before work starts, and the employer must have in writing evidence that the survey was performed. Utility lines must be shut off, capped or controlled before demolition begins, and exterior walls and floors are generally demolished from the top down.
Where remote machines help
Remote controlled demolition machines let the operator work from outside the fall zone. Cameras, drones and sensors can help assess a structure without sending a person in. Both depend on software.
What the software must get right
- The survey is an input, not a footnote. Record the engineering survey, the exclusion zone and the sequence in a system the machine control references, with changes approved by a named person.
- Safe stop. Radio control that drops must stop the machine. Emergency stop must not depend on the main software.
- Human approval. Any AI suggested sequence or cut is approved by the competent person.
- Secure updates and tamper evident logs. Signed firmware, and logs of commands, zone changes and approvals that cannot be edited unnoticed.
- Offline operation. Sites often have poor connectivity.
Safeguard does not operate demolition equipment and does not claim to reduce injuries. For machine makers it offers SBOMs, vulnerability scanning with known exploited status, policy gates, audit logs and air gapped deployment.
Quick check
What must the employer keep under 1926.850(a)?
Written evidence that the engineering survey was performed by a competent person before demolition began.
