Building a Better Emergency Alert System for Construction Sites
Cory Sherman, founder of Safety Systems Management
On a construction site, an emergency can unfold in seconds, leaving no room for delayed, vague, or inconsistent communication. Yet many companies still depend on air horns, text messages, and patchwork systems that were not designed for the scale and complexity of modern projects.
On ATDC's Executive Bytes, Cory Sherman, founder of Safety Systems Management, discusses how the company is modernizing emergency communication in construction.
Moving Beyond the Air Horn
Air horns remain standard on construction sites, but their limitations become clear on large, noisy projects. Sherman saw those limitations during a fire drill at a 20-story construction project in Atlanta, where it took more than 45 minutes to evacuate the building.
An air horn may signal danger, but it cannot explain what happened or tell workers whether to evacuate, shelter in place, or stop working. It may also fail to reach everyone across multiple buildings, floors, and active work zones. An effective emergency system must reach every worker, explain what is happening, and provide clear instructions about what to do next.
A Mobile Scalable Alternative
Safety Systems Management developed a wireless, tower-based notification system that can be positioned throughout a project site and moved or expanded as the site changes.
Using radio frequencies, the system delivers prerecorded emergency instructions or live voice announcements. Messages can be provided in English and Spanish, helping companies communicate clearly with multilingual workforces.
At the QTS data center project in Fayetteville, Georgia, the company installed more than 70 towers in 10 buildings. At the JFK Airport expansion in New York, 25 towers helped nearly 2,000 workers evacuate in approximately 10 minutes during safety drills.
Growing With ATDC
According to Sherman, ATDC's coaching, resources, and community have played an integral role in Safety Systems Management's growth. Feedback Friday helped him refine the pitch deck and clarify what the company does, who it serves, and the problem it solves. What Is SBIR and other ATDC classes have been indispensable to his financial education and understanding of potential funding opportunities and resources. ATDC events and networking have connected him with peers, advisors, and partners who support the company's growth.
Changing an Industry
Sherman launched Safety Systems Management in 2016 while working full-time and spent three years developing the product before securing his first sale in 2019. Today, he and his brother manage nearly every aspect of the business, from sales and installation to maintenance and customer service.
\His journey shows that meaningful innovation rarely happens overnight. It also leaves construction leaders with an important question: Is your emergency communication system designed for the way construction works today?
For large, noisy, multilingual job sites, faster and clearer communication can mean the difference between confusion and coordinated action when every second counts.