Eric Marks

Construction safety performance in the past decade has stagnated to the point where only marginal improvements have occurred. Past safety performance has been driven by lagging indicators including capturing safety data only after an illness, injury, or fatality occurred. A significant improvement can be realized through effective use of leading indicators, such as near-miss data reporting, collection, and analysis. The primary objective is to identify best practices associated with a near-miss reporting program for construction companies. A near-miss reporting program was created from results of a review of literature and investigating established near-miss reporting programs of many construction companies. The created near-miss reporting program was implemented on construction projects of companies that previously failed to collect near-miss data. Project safety managers and workers were surveyed periodically throughout the duration of the construction project to capture benefits, limitations, lessons learned, and suggestions from the implemented near-miss reporting program. Results indicate near-miss data can be reported, collected, and analyzed by construction personnel. Research deliverables including near-miss reporting program guidelines, reporting flowchart, employee orientation presentation, and reporting materials can be used to implement a near-miss reporting program or enhance an existing program for construction companies.

Although hands-on practices are considered the most effective training method for crane operators, they are always expensive and dangerous to be performed at the actual worksite. As an alternative, virtual reality and simulator technology provide a close-to-reality experience in lifting operation while minimizing costs and hazards. However, the virtual environment in current training systems are static and designed ahead of time rather than representing an as-built construction site with its dynamic construction resource (workers, equipment, materials). Such a drawback greatly limits the effectiveness of virtual training systems. To advance virtual training for crane operators, this research presents a framework toward constructing as-built virtual training environments by integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) and real-time location tracking technology in a virtual environment. Implementing the proposed framework, a virtual training system for lifting tasks at an actual construction site was developed. The results of a pilot test show that such an approach can construct as-built work scenarios effectively and potentially assess and improve operator proficiency in a virtual training environment.

One-fourth of construction industry fatalities are caused by worker collisions with construction equipment. Nonvisible areas (blind spots) for equipment operators are contributing factors to many of these fatalities because equipment operators are unable to see ground personnel at certain locations around their equipment. Presented are the design and validation of a unique technique for measuring blind spots by using laser scanning data. The work demonstrates how the design of construction equipment impacts the visibility of its operator. The contribution of the developed technique to the body of knowledge is that it can precisely evaluate and compare different equipment models and design characteristics. The blind spot measurement data for several similar pieces of equipment provides design suggestions that increase operator visibility. By increasing operator visibility through advanced equipment design, safety can be promoted on construction sites and in any other work environment, particularly with nearby ground workforce equipment.

Of the construction fatalities that occurred in 2010, approximately one-fourth resulted from workers being struck by an object or piece of equipment on a construction site. The objective of this particular research is to evaluate the capabilities and reliability of low-cost (semi-) passive radio frequency identification (RFID) technology as the main component of a pro-active real-time personal protection unit (PPU). Experiments emulating typical interactions between ground workers and heavy construction equipment are designed and executed. Various positions and orientations of the designed (semi-) passive RFID-based PPU were evaluated based on typical ground worker movements during construction tasks. Results indicate that both position and orientation of the PPU impact the reliability of the system's ability to activate alerts during hazardous proximity situations. The overall purpose of this research is to generate scientific data and knowledge of proximity detection and alert system for eventual implementation of these systems on construction sites. By implementing these systems in the construction environment, ground workers can be provided an alert during hazardous proximity situations.

The United States construction industry experienced 151 fatalities resulting from workers colliding with objects and equipment in 2009. These fatalities accounted for approximately 18% of the total construction fatalities and 3% of the total workplace fatalities experienced that year. Construction workers and equipment are often required to function at close proximity on construction jobsites. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of emerging radio frequency (RF) remote sensing technology that can promote safety in construction by providing real-time alerts for worker-on-foot and construction equipment operators when a potentially hazardous proximity situation exists. Numerous experiments designed to emulate typical interactions between workers-on-foot and construction equipment, including installing proximity sensing devices on actual construction equipment, were used to evaluate the proximity sensing technology. Results from the experiments indicate that real-time pro-active proximity sensing and warning technology can promote safety on construction jobsites.