This study investigates how robotics and automation improve safety and efficiency in construction, focusing on semi-automated bricklaying robots. The research was conducted in 2025 and combines interviews with 10 engineers and real data from a project that used a bricklaying robot: the University Arts Building at the University of Nevada, Reno (a $35.5 million project completed in 2018). The project used 100,000 bricks, of which the robot laid 60,000.Reductions in injury risk, project duration and labor-intensive work were assessed with an adapted Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a method for measuring environmental and other impacts, using OpenLCA v1.11 and ISO standards. Robots laid 2,000–3,000 bricks per day compared with 300–500 by hand, a productivity increase of about 400–600%. Heavy lifting was cut by 80% and injuries such as poor posture and strain were reduced by 50–70%. Stakeholders rated the need for workers to adapt and learn new skills as a major challenge. Policy recommendations include OSHA incentives for adopting robots, worker-training funds and updated safety rules for human–robot collaboration.