Using data and transparency to minimize risk

The Challenge

Compass Datacenters, a leading owner and builder of digital infrastructure facilities, has grown rapidly to meet the increasing global demand for data storage. But maintaining its high standards for health and safety became challenging amid that growth. As a company that prides itself on being progressive about safety, Compass knew it needed the right talent and technology to continue raising the bar.

The Solution

After bringing in a highly credentialed health and safety expert to build a robust safety framework that could scale with the company’s growth, Compass used Procore’s Quality & Safety solution to produce rigorous monitoring practices, data-driven insights and standardized safety practices across all job sites.

The Results

• Compass has improved real-time safety monitoring on job sites, enabling prompt issue resolution to help minimize risks
• With Procore's Analytics, Compass can track safety trends across projects and proactively address recurring issues, allowing for data-driven safety decisions
• Integrating Procore Financials with their ERP helps minimize Compass' financial exposure by creating greater budget awareness and transparency, reducing financial risk

Setting the standard for safety amid explosive growth

The rapid spread of technologies like AI, cloud computing, and edge processing is driving urgent demand for data centers across the globe. Dallas-based Compass Datacenters has risen to meet this challenge, building data centers and edge-computing facilities that can support the next generation of digital infrastructure. For Rachel Neal, Compass’s Vice President of Safety, this growth offers exciting new challenges — and the chance to be a trendsetter in health and safety for one of the fastest-growing sectors in the construction business.

As an owner with high standards, Compass takes a hands-on approach to every project, embedding rigorous safety and operational protocols across all its construction and operating sites worldwide. “The mission of Compass,” says Neal, “is to make lives better for anyone on the planet who is impacted by data centers, for the folks that work for Compass and for the men and women who build our data centers.” With those commitments in mind, Neal and her team rely on Procore’s Quality & Safety solution to keep pace with Compass’s growth and help everyone who steps on a Compass job site to return home safe each day.

An obsession with safety that some call ‘weird’

Neal joined Compass after leaving academia for the construction industry, bringing with her over a decade of safety expertise (and a PhD in Human Environmental Sciences). Among the many ways she has impacted the company is the implementation of the Compass Cares program, a global EHS initiative tailored for the high-stakes environment of data center construction. This program serves as a roadmap for Compass’s safety expectations and fosters a collaborative relationship with contractors to achieve the highest safety standards.

“We are very involved with our GCs on our campuses,” says Neal. “We feel like owners must play a critical role in driving the high expectations that the construction industry deserves.” To fulfill that role, Compass embeds itself deeply in safety operations on-site — a quality their contractors refer to as “weird,” a label the company proudly embraces. “They tell us, ‘Compass, you’re weird.’ And we’re very happy to be weird. We know we’re working toward something really good.”

Neal is also a driving force behind the company’s new FrontLiners program, which redefines the role of frontline supervisors (Compass has retired the term “foremen”) as advocates for safety, quality and mental health. Rather than simply overseeing tasks, these “Frontliners” are empowered to drive continuous improvement by openly discussing areas for growth — even acknowledging mistakes. “Can you imagine a climate in the construction industry where frontline supervision is celebrated for talking openly about vulnerabilities?” says Neal. it’s an innovative program that fosters a safer, more supportive culture while encouraging transparency and advancing Compass’s mission to make lives better.

Procore supports the safety mission and reduces risk

Compass had been using Procore for years before Neal joined, but her arrival marked a turning point in maximizing its Quality & Safety solution. The company relies on Procore’s Observations, Inspections and Daily Logs tools to streamline safety documentation and communication across all its construction sites. On-site safety managers use Procore’s Observations tool to record both positive and negative safety observations, from workers properly wearing PPE to potential hazards like uncovered trenches. These observations are then distributed instantly to GCs and Compass leadership, facilitating prompt and transparent responses to safety issues. “I get emails all day on the Observations tool that are being entered, good and bad,” Neal says. This real-time flow of information fosters quick resolutions, helping to reduce safety risks on-site and minimizing conflicts.

The Procore Inspections tool also plays a critical role in Compass’s safety protocol. Safety inspectors conduct routine walks to document site cleanliness, PPE compliance, fall protection measures and more. If inspectors notice non-compliance, the Inspections tool prompts them to log an observation, capturing the issue with photos, if needed. This observation is then distributed to stakeholders, including contractors responsible for resolving the issue.

One of the most exciting developments for Neal’s team is the integration of Procore’s Analytics package, which will allow Compass to visualize and analyze safety trends across projects. “We’re currently working on creating dashboards that will break down safety data per campus and provide insights on trends,” says Neal. With these dashboards, Neal and her team can track key metrics like Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and drill down into trends by region or project. This approach enables Compass to make data-driven decisions and improve safety protocols proactively.

Beyond safety, using Procore helps Compass to mitigate financial risk across its vast portfolio of projects. “With these large projects — and they’re all prototypes — if we make a mistake on one, we make a mistake on 10 of them,” says Brian Filkins, Compass’s Operational Technology Lead. To manage this, Compass uses Procore’s tools to track risks in real time and escalate potential issues to executive leadership. And a custom integration with Compass’s ERP system, NetSuite, aligns Procore Financials with company-wide budgeting, promoting accountability and budget awareness at every level of the organization.

Uniting around a common goal

Reflecting on her experience using Procore, Neal is quick to emphasize its role as a “single source of truth” that unites all stakeholders in a common goal: safety. “Out of all the platforms that I’ve used, I can say that Procore is the most comprehensive,” she says.

From Neal’s perspective, Procore has empowered Compass to set the bar higher and maintain rigorous safety standards even as the company scales rapidly. As Compass Datacenters continues to grow, Procore remains an essential tool in achieving Neal’s mission of making lives better today and setting tomorrow’s standard for industry health and safety.