Unmanned Aerial Systems and Deep Learning for Safety and Health Activity Monitoring on Construction Sites.

Construction is a highly hazardous industry typified by several complex features in dynamic work environments that have the possibility of causing harm or ill health to construction workers. The constant monitoring of workers' unsafe behaviors and work conditions is considered not only a proactive but also an active method of removing safety and health hazards and preventing potential accidents on construction sites. The integration of sensor technologies and artificial intelligence for computer vision can be used to create a robust management strategy and enhance the analysis of safety and health data needed to generate insights and take action to protect workers on construction sites. This study presents the development and validation of a framework that implements the use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) and deep learning (DL) for the collection and analysis of safety activity metrics for improving construction safety performance. The developed framework was validated using a pilot case study. Digital images of construction safety activities were collected on active construction sites using a UAS, and the performance of two different object detection deep-learning algorithms/models (Faster R-CNN and YOLOv3) for safety hardhat detection were compared. The dataset included 7041 preprocessed and augmented images with a 75/25 training and testing split. From the case study results, Faster R-CNN showed a higher precision of 93.1% than YOLOv3 (89.8%). The findings of this study show the impact and potential benefits of using UASs and DL in computer vision applications for managing safety and health on construction sites.

Are Construction Managers from Mars and Workers from Venus? Exploring Differences in Construction Safety Perception of Two Key Field Stakeholders.

Persisting high rates of worksite accidents and injuries in construction projects indicate the urge to investigate the root causes and revisit safety practices in this industry. Consonance in perceptions and safety approaches has been identified as a fundamental factor in boosting projects' safety. Discrepancies between how different elements of construction safety are perceived and handled by the key stakeholders, namely managers and workers, could be detrimental to worksite safety. This research studied how, if at all, the perception of four key construction safety components, including 33 sets of pairwise questions, is different in the lens of managers from workers. To explore safety perceptions, 133 construction professionals in the United States participated in the study and expressed their perceptions toward their own and counterparts' (1) safety knowledge, (2) safety culture and commitment, (3) safety performance, and (4) safety support and communication. The results indicated that massive gaps in safety perceptions do exist between the construction managers and workers (26 out of 33 areas), and the magnitude varies for different safety elements. In all four categories, both managers and workers perceived a superior safety position for themselves and inferior for their counterparts. Further investigations revealed that the common ground between managers and workers is their consensus on proper communication and safety training as the key solutions to address such discrepancies. Construction safety professionals and practitioners can benefit from the results of this study to establish and implement strategies to foster communication and provide more effective safety training to bridge the existing gaps in the perception of safety by managers and workers.

Quality and safety management practices: The theory of quality management approach.

INTRODUCTION: Safety management is frequently treated as non-essential and incidental to core business functions. Accordingly, the importance of safety management is often underestimated. The Theory of Quality Management was investigated in this study to find the degree of linkage between the management of quality and safety. METHOD: Data derived from a 40-item online survey were used to test the Theory of Quality Management model factors among quality and safety professionals. The surveys were distributed to quality and safety professionals represented by the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), for a total of 144 completed surveys, with the largest number coming from manufacturing organizations. RESULTS: the findings suggest good internal consistency for the variables and good correlations between the quality and safety professional responses. CONCLUSIONS: This study offers evidence that the organizational functions of safety and quality can follow the same management model, broadening the understanding of the Theory of Quality Management from focusing only the management of quality, to embracing the management of safety. Practical Application: The finding could help establishments improve overall worker safety and health using quality tools and techniques.

Fatal injuries among Hispanic workers in the U.S. construction industry: Findings from FACE investigation reports.

INTRODUCTION: Identifying and understanding the characteristics of workplace accidents can provide vital information required to clarify their causes and prevent similar accidents from happening in the future. The Hispanic workforce represents a significant segment of the U.S. construction labor force that is projected to continue increasing in population. The government statistical data show higher rates of fatalities among Hispanic workers when compared to other ethnic groups. METHOD: This study aims to provide details about the trends of fatal injuries among Hispanic workers. The study examined 92 government investigation reports to reveal the general trends, then an examination of fatal fall injuries within the study sample was conducted since falling is the predominant cause of fatal injuries. RESULTS: The findings suggest differences in accident characteristics between Hispanic workers and all workers, which could indicate a need for different interventions to improve the overall site safety. The study also revealed the dire need to propose revised investigation procedures that would help identify the root causes of accidents, which in turn leads to better recommendations and interventions.

Managing active cultural differences in U.S. construction workplaces: Perspectives from non-Hispanic workers.

INTRODUCTION: Current census reports indicate a growing shift toward workforce diversity in the U.S. construction industry, which is largely the result of increasing participation from the Hispanic community. The data also suggest that the Hispanic workforce suffers a higher rate of fatal injuries compared to their non-Hispanic counterparts. Therefore, there is a dire need to develop and utilize new management tools and strategies to accommodate the differences in language and culture of this incoming labor force. METHOD: The absence of these tools and strategies poses several challenges including cost overrun, schedule delay, and more importantly, higher workplace injury rates. This study aims to provide a better understanding of the contribution of cultural diversity as a factor that may influence the overall site safety. RESULTS: As a result, this study provides further evidence that indicate that the current findings regarding the influence of active cultural differences are reliable, valid, and needs attention. Furthermore, the study provides sub-analysis results of cultural values among Hispanic workers, which suggest that workers from Mexico are less likely to speak up on safety issues when compared to other Hispanic workers. Therefore, this study has both practical and theoretical implications for managing workforce diversity and related safety performance in the U.S. construction industry. The results of the study can be used by employers and managers to adopt responsive strategies and tools to reduce the likelihood of fatal and nonfatal injuries among Hispanic workers.

Fostering Safety Communication among Construction Workers: Role of Safety Climate and Crew-Level Cohesion.

Safety communication among construction workers is fundamental to effective safety management. However, evidence suggests that poor safety communication is a common problem in construction workplaces. In fact, previous research has unveiled a number of systemic barriers to effective safety communication in the construction industry. When workers do not sufficiently communicate relevant safety hazards and appropriate injury prevention measures, unexpected injuries can follow. Therefore, research examining factors that promote or impede effective safety communication is necessary. Towards achieving this goal, the purpose of the current research was to evaluate the effect of safety climate and crew cohesion on the demonstrated safety communication levels. The goal was achieved by gathering empirical data from 57 construction workplaces in the United States. More specifically, the participating construction workplaces were visited, and data pertaining to the safety climate and crew-level cohesion were first collected using questionnaire surveys. Next, a safety communication survey instrument was administered, and the data necessary to compute network density-a social network metric that is indicative of safety communication levels was gathered. The analysis of the data suggested that a positive relationship exists between safety climate and safety communication levels. Likewise, construction crews that demonstrated higher levels of cohesion exhibited superior safety communication levels. Finally, evidence also suggested that a synergetic effect exists between safety climate and crew cohesion in improving safety communication levels.