Auger

Construction software is almost universally bad. Not bad in a "needs a UI refresh" way — bad in a "this was designed for a procurement committee, not a foreman" way. Onboarding takes a week. The most important button is buried three screens deep. The alert goes to someone who isn't on the roof.

Meanwhile, heat illness is one of the leading causes of weather-related death on job sites. OSHA's heat rule is tightening. And the standard approach is still a foreman looking at the sky and making a call based on feel.

There's a better version of this. Software should be doing the math so the crew can just work.

What it does

• Tracks heat index in real time and tells supervisors when mandatory cool-down breaks are required under OSHA thresholds
• Alerts the right person before lightning closes in — 30/30 rule automated, decision logged
• Records every recommendation and action taken for compliance, insurance, and post-incident review

It pushes. It doesn't wait to be opened. A foreman who never touches the settings screen should still get the right alert at the right time. Most job-site software fails that test. Auger has to pass it.

My co-founder and I set out to build enterprise software that actually feels like it was made for the person using it. Smaller team, faster decisions, harder opinions about what stays and what gets cut. We're not trying to be Procore. We're trying to be the thing a foreman actually opens.

Where things are

We're in feedback with safety engineers in Ohio and Idaho. The weather engine is stable — inherited and hardened from Whether To Run. The interface is still moving.

We're talking about this while we build it. That's on purpose. The people who find Auger early are the ones who shape it — which is exactly the kind of early customer we want.

— John Loughrin