See how Shamrock Civil rolled out HammerTech across 26 projects to transform safety from a compliance task into a real-time, data-driven advantage.
From remote pipeline projects to Australia’s largest solar farm, Shamrock Civil operates in challenging, high-risk environments where informed decisions and field-ready systems are essential – because conditions can shift fast and safety can’t afford to lag.
While legacy safety systems like paper pre-starts, emailed permits or Excel registers were familiar, the Tier 3 national contractor found them increasingly slow, inconsistent, and hard to act on.
Previous attempts to digitise site safety had also fallen short. A trialled solution, designed with minimal input from site teams, buckled under real-world pressures. The tools failed to reflect the complexity of the civil contractor’s site operations — where responsiveness and adaptability are critical to keep work safe, efficient, and on time.
Shamrock needed a platform that could support those unforeseen moments on site — not collapse under them. In short, a system that aligned with how crews worked, empowering better decisions without adding complexity.
Shamrock began implementing HammerTech in early 2024, prioritising a staggered rollout across new projects, paired with hands-on training and direct site feedback.
“Some existing projects saw how well it was working on nearby sites and even asked to roll it out early,” admits Project Manager Jordan Booth.
“You don’t get that kind of buy-in unless the value is there.”
By early 2024, Shamrock Civil knew it needed a better way to manage safety. Previous attempts to digitise processes had fallen short, admits Jordan — not because the team lacked intent, but because the systems didn’t reflect how construction sites actually operate.
“Not everything on site happens as you'd like. You need workarounds when things don’t go exactly as planned.”
“On many jobs, there was a combination of paper, Word and Excel to record the data,” says Chief Information Technology Officer Manfred Até. “It’s very hard to report on that, to demonstrate safety stats in any efficient way — and it’s difficult to audit.”
An earlier digital pilot had also struggled. Poor field buy-in, limited onboarding, and no site-level input meant adoption never took hold.
“It didn’t help that the system had been picked by the finance team, with no involvement from the guys at site level,” says Jordan. “When things went wrong, it wasn’t resolved. That experience made it clear we had to take a very different approach moving forward.”
This time, Shamrock prioritised those using the platform: site teams. Jordan and the team assessed over 10 solutions, but most couldn’t handle the day-to-day complexities of keeping sites running safely and smoothly.
“What if someone shows up unannounced?” asks Jordan.
“What if they haven’t sent their stuff through? What if the iPad goes down? With HammerTech, there was an answer to a lot of those. Other platforms just didn’t cater.”
Unlike platforms that forced teams to throw out their existing systems, HammerTech slotted into the way Shamrock and critically, their site teams already worked.
“HammerTech ticked about 90% of the boxes for the processes we already had in place,” says Jordan.
“We weren’t starting from scratch — we were building on what already worked and making it stronger.”
Just as critical was how seamlessly data is captured during normal site activities.
“We focused on getting the data collection right,” he adds.
“Lots of systems can process data in the background — but if the data going in isn’t accurate or consistent, the insights are useless. That’s why we needed something simple and efficient for our site teams.”
READ MORE: For Safety Directors – visibility across all processes and projects in one place.
“Getting inputs right is critical— and input usually comes from site-based personnel who don’t sit at a desk and may not have high IT proficiency. Ease of use at the site level was the number one priority.”
That principle became a filter for every decision: “If a platform wasn’t quick, if it wasn’t easy — it wasn’t going to work. It’s that simple.”
The HammerTech rollout began in January 2024, initially focusing on new projects to reduce change resistance and build momentum. Jordan personally visited sites across Australia, delivering in-person training and support.
“We weren’t going to repeat the mistakes of our previous system.”
Weekly meetings with the HammerTech team helped address issues quickly. And as confidence grew, this cadence dropped to fortnightly with most requests now resolved with a quick email — a sign of an easy-to-use solution and smooth adoption.
Once field teams experienced the time-saving benefits, buy-in accelerated.
“They quickly turned around and said, ‘Oh, I can actually see this saves me time and benefits me individually’.”
“We even had some sites and regions asking if they could roll it out earlier than we initially planned because they were seeing the benefits.”
With 26 active projects, more than 3,000 registered personnel, and over 28,000 labour-hours recorded in December 2024 alone, Shamrock now operates with a level of site visibility and control that was previously out of reach.
What used to take weeks is now available in real time — enabling faster, data-backed decisions.
Incident management has also matured significantly. Full lifecycle traceability of reviews, signoffs, and close-out actions ensures nothing gets missed — with Power BI dashboards surfacing outstanding tasks for managers all the way up to the CEO.
READ MORE: ‘HammerTech Insights’ – transformational safety and site ops data
That visibility has done more than improve safety. It’s laid the foundation for broader digital transformation across the business. Manfred says the team even uses tools like fishbone analyses to identify root causes, detect trends, and respond proactively through toolbox talks or retraining.
“The data is still building, but we’re already seeing patterns,” he adds.
Crucially, HammerTech’s success has helped shift internal culture — making teams more confident and open to future digital solutions.
“Because the rollout worked so well, the team’s now more open to other systems,” says Jordan. “They’ve seen the benefit first-hand. That trust is there.”
Visit http://www.hammertech.com to learn more.
Sector: Civil including gas and mining, transport infrastructure, commercial, defence, government development
Size: 180-plus employees; average annual turnover of approx. $210 million
Location: Operates across Australia – Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory
Timeline: 26 active projects so far with 3,000-plus registered personnel