ABSTRACT
The food safety compliance and challenges of micro–Food Business Operators (FBOs) that could impact COVID-19 are assessed in this study using the descriptive-comparative research design. The findings reveal that the sanitary conditions of utensils and equipment, the sanitary operations and facilities, the monitoring of time and temperatures, and the maintenance of the sanitary conditions in the facility need major improvement to increase food safety compliance and to contribute in mitigating the transmission of COVID-19. Minor improvements are needed in the handwashing facility, the implementation of the water potability program, Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures, personnel disease control, and hygienic practices. Moreover, the lack of technical knowledge and time to manage and continuously improve food safety system are the challenges experienced by the FBOs. These findings are instrumental to the improvement of the food safety practices, formulation of relevant policies, and conceptualization of research in mitigating COVID-19 relevant to food safety. © 2021, University of San Jose-Recoletos. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Health and safety problems are essential for the construction industry, and such problems are more pronounced in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to the lack of financial resources and skilled personnel. Researchers have explored the feasibility and viability of addressing such constraints using artificial intelligence-enhanced, low-cost sensor systems. Our previous studies have investigated both conventional machine learning and deep neural network models for recognizing workers' postures from low-cost wearable sensors and assessing the ergonomics risks for injury prevention. In the next steps for this research, we are investigating adoption drivers and diffusion barriers for the scaled deployment of AI-enhanced sensor networks and other emerging digital technologies for construction health and safety in a real-work setting. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges, it has also sped up the digital technology adoption. The discussion in this paper is directed at building on this momentum to advance the use of emerging digital technologies at construction SMEs. The authors conducted a systematic review of literature on digital technologies at construction SMEs and how COVID-19 affected the digital transformation at SMEs. After an initial screening of a total of 170 articles, the key publications based on the research questions were selected for a more in-depth analysis. It emerged that although construction SMEs have embraced the use of several digital technologies during the current pandemic, there is still a large digital divide between these companies and larger companies. The research discussed in this paper contributes to efforts directed at addressing this problem through the design and deployment of SME-centric digital technologies for construction health and safety. © 2021 Computing in Civil Engineering 2021 - Selected Papers from the ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering 2021. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
To cope with the dynamics of production, construction managers spend a significant amount of time organising the workforce, managing logistics and controlling the flow. Underestimating the process of workforce allocation and management could lead to serious productivity, safety, logistics, and coordination problems. To exacerbate this situation, the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic has created a situation where unorganised workforce allocation and tracking could increase the health and safety risk for the project. The Last Planner® System (LPS) advocates and incorporates processes to sustain flow suggested in Lean Production theory. Hence, the complex job of creating the workforce-flow can potentially be simplified through the LPS proactive planning during lookahead discussions. The paper captures a case study where the same safety and productivity issues were heavily encountered in a project involving multiple trades (15+) and having hundreds of workers struggling in the pandemic situation. Implementing design Science approach, the team has discovered a digital workflow management system that exhibits significant improvement in coordination, control over productivity wastage and safe working environment. This research utilised a digital LPS powered by real-time cloud-based system, capable of actively tracking the agreed workforce boosting productivity whilst keeping the workforce safe and secure. © Prof. Luis F. Alarcón and Assoc. Prof. Vicente González, IGL2021 All rights reserved.