Heat map generation for predictive safety planning: preventing struck-by and near miss interactions between workers-on-foot and construction equipment

Abstract The construction industry measures safety performance through lagging indicators such as counting numbers of illnesses, injuries, and fatalities. Active leading indicators, for example capturing hazardous proximity situations between workers-on-foot and heavy construction equipment, provide an additional metric for construction site personnel safety performance without incurring accidents. This article presents a method for recording, identifying, and analyzing interactive hazardous near miss situations between workers-on-foot and heavy construction equipment. Spatiotemporal GPS data are analyzed to automatically measure a hazard index that is visualized in form of a heat map. The graphical representation of computationally identified individual values in up-to-date building information models allows automatically generated personalized safety performance reports. These are based on specific near miss locations, environmental conditions, and equipment types. The presented research is based on previous isolated research efforts in equipment blind spot measurement, real-time location tracking, and proximity alert technology. It contributes the definitions and experimental validation of new safety parameters – such as entry of worker-on-foot in equipment blind spot – to determine the root causes that lead to equipment- and visibility-related fatalities on construction sites. Analysis of these root causes is important in preventing accidents in the first place.

[1]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Mobile 3D mapping for surveying earthwork projects using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system , 2014 .

[2]  F. D. Lindsay,et al.  Successful health and safety management. The contribution of management audit , 1992 .

[3]  Alistair G.F. Gibb,et al.  The quality of accident and health data in the construction industry: interviews with senior managers , 1999 .

[4]  Frédéric Bosché,et al.  Automated recognition of 3D CAD model objects in laser scans and calculation of as-built dimensions for dimensional compliance control in construction , 2010, Adv. Eng. Informatics.

[5]  Silvio Savarese,et al.  Application of D4AR - A 4-Dimensional augmented reality model for automating construction progress monitoring data collection, processing and communication , 2009, J. Inf. Technol. Constr..

[6]  Tao Cheng,et al.  Proximity hazard indicator for workers-on-foot near miss interactions with construction equipment and geo-referenced hazard areas , 2015 .

[7]  Christian Koch,et al.  Three-Dimensional Tracking of Construction Resources Using an On-Site Camera System , 2012, J. Comput. Civ. Eng..

[8]  Jun Wang,et al.  Geotechnical and safety protective equipment planning using range point cloud data and rule checking in building information modeling , 2015 .

[9]  Tao Cheng,et al.  Modeling Tower Crane Operator Visibility to Minimize the Risk of Limited Situational Awareness , 2014 .

[10]  Roger V. Bostelman,et al.  Measurement and Evaluation of Visibility Experiments for Powered Industrial Vehicles , 2011 .

[11]  Amin Hammad,et al.  Risk-based look-ahead workspace generation for earthwork equipment using near real-time simulation , 2015 .

[12]  Fei Dai,et al.  Comparison of Image-Based and Time-of-Flight-Based Technologies for Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Infrastructure , 2013 .

[13]  Kamel S. Saidi,et al.  Static and dynamic performance evaluation of a commercially-available ultra wideband tracking system , 2011 .

[14]  Jimmie Hinze,et al.  The Nature of Struck-by Accidents , 2005 .

[15]  Tao Cheng,et al.  Automated Evaluation of Proximity Hazards Caused by Workers Interacting with Equipment , 2013 .

[16]  Jimmie Hinze,et al.  Autonomous pro-active real-time construction worker and equipment operator proximity safety alert system , 2010 .

[17]  Carlos H. Caldas,et al.  Methodology for Automating the Identification and Localization of Construction Components on Industrial Projects , 2009 .

[18]  Burcu Akinci,et al.  Formalization and Automation of Time-Space Conflict Analysis , 2002 .

[19]  Carlos H. Caldas,et al.  Real-Time Three-Dimensional Occupancy Grid Modeling for the Detection and Tracking of Construction Resources , 2007 .

[20]  Sou-Sen Leu,et al.  Characteristic analysis of occupational accidents at small construction enterprises , 2010 .

[21]  Eric Marks,et al.  Laser Scanning for Safe Equipment Design That Increases Operator Visibility by Measuring Blind Spots , 2013 .

[22]  Roger V. Bostelman,et al.  Improved Methods for Evaluation of Visibility for Industrial Vehicles Towards Safety Standards , 2013 .

[23]  Jochen Teizer.  Wearable, wireless identification sensing platform: Self-Monitoring Alert and Reporting Technology for Hazard Avoidance and Training (SmartHat) , 2015, J. Inf. Technol. Constr..

[24]  Eric Marks,et al.  Method for testing proximity detection and alert technology for safe construction equipment operation , 2013 .

[25]  Tomohiro Yoshida,et al.  A Study of Safety Management Using Working Area Information on Construction Site , 2008 .

[26]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Cell-based construction site simulation model for earthmoving operations using real-time equipment location data , 2015 .

[27]  Martin G. Helander,et al.  Safety hazards and motivation for safe work in the construction industry , 1991 .

[28]  Charles M. Eastman,et al.  Workforce location tracking to model, visualize and analyze workspace requirements in building information models for construction safety planning , 2015 .

[29]  Seokho Chi,et al.  Image-Based Safety Assessment: Automated Spatial Safety Risk Identification of Earthmoving and Surface Mining Activities , 2012 .

[30]  Stephanie G. Pratt,et al.  BUILDING SAFER HIGHWAY WORK ZONES: MEASURES TO PREVENT WORKER INJURIES FROM VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT , 2001 .

[31]  Tao Cheng,et al.  Real-time resource location data collection and visualization technology for construction safety and activity monitoring applications , 2013 .

[32]  Jimmie Hinze,et al.  Proactive Construction Safety Control: Measuring, Monitoring, and Responding to Safety Leading Indicators , 2013 .

[33]  A J McLean,et al.  Vehicle travel speeds and the incidence of fatal pedestrian crashes. , 1997, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[34]  Mani Golparvar-Fard,et al.  Evaluation of image-based modeling and laser scanning accuracy for emerging automated performance monitoring techniques , 2011 .

[35]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Computing 3D blind spots of construction equipment: Implementation and evaluation of an automated measurement and visualization method utilizing range point cloud data , 2013 .

[36]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Dynamic blindspots measurement for construction equipment operators , 2016 .

[37]  Patricio A. Vela,et al.  Performance evaluation of ultra wideband technology for construction resource location tracking in harsh environments , 2011 .

[38]  Ioannis Brilakis,et al.  Progressive 3D reconstruction of infrastructure with videogrammetry , 2011 .

[39]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Automating the blind spot measurement of construction equipment , 2010 .

[40]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Automated Collection, Identification, Localization, and Analysis of Worker-Related Proximity Hazard Events in Heavy Construction Equipment Operation , 2015 .

[41]  Jimmie Hinze,et al.  AN EVALUATION OF SAFETY PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS , 2003 .

[42]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Right-time vs real-time pro-active construction safety and health system architecture , 2016 .

[43]  Jimmie Hinze,et al.  Near Miss Reporting Program to Enhance Construction Worker Safety Performance , 2014 .

[44]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Status quo and open challenges in vision-based sensing and tracking of temporary resources on infrastructure construction sites , 2015, Adv. Eng. Informatics.

[45]  Carlos H. Caldas,et al.  Evaluation of sensing technology for the prevention of backover accidents in construction work zones , 2014, J. Inf. Technol. Constr..

[46]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Automatic spatio-temporal analysis of construction site equipment operations using GPS data , 2013 .

[47]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Rapid Automated Monitoring of Construction Site Activities Using Ultra-Wide Band , 2007 .

[48]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Coarse head pose estimation of construction equipment operators to formulate dynamic blind spots , 2012, Adv. Eng. Informatics.

[49]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Range Imaging as Emerging Optical Three-Dimension Measurement Technology , 2007 .

[50]  Weiwei Wu,et al.  Design and implementation of an identification system in construction site safety for proactive accident prevention. , 2012, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[51]  Roger V. Bostelman,et al.  Methods for improving visibility measurement standards of powered industrial vehicles , 2014 .

[52]  Jochen Teizer,et al.  Visibility-related fatalities related to construction equipment , 2011 .