Tower cranes are indispensable vertical transportation equipment in construction engineering, and their operational safety is directly related to the safety of personnel and the smooth progress of projects. Traditional tower crane safety management has long relied on manual inspection and empirical judgment, with problems such as insufficient equipment hazard monitoring, prominent blind spots in human operation, and lagging warning mechanisms restricting the improvement of safety management. Based on a systematic analysis of the pain points in traditional tower crane safety management, this study constructs a technical framework for an intelligent early warning system for tower crane safety and evaluates its practical application effects in engineering projects. The research shows that the intelligent early warning system can effectively realize real-time monitoring of tower crane operating status, early identification of potential risks, and graded warnings, reducing the interference of human factors in safety management and promoting the transformation of tower crane safety management from post-event rectification to pre-event prevention. The promotion and application of this system are of great significance for improving the safety management level of tower cranes in construction engineering and reducing the occurrence of safety accidents.