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A risk assessment model is developed to estimate the potential combined influence of concurrent safety risks facing on-foot construction worker at a certain point in space or instant of time. The model is based on a holistic approach that comprehensively systemizes principal types and subjective values of possible safety risk events. Fuzzy fault tree is built using a deductive approach to identify possible concurrent basic and conditional risk events, not risk symptoms, from the major subgroups of triggering, enabling and environment-related risks. The inclusive risk breakdown structure helps in combating assessment underestimation related to overlooking influential risks. Adequate logic gates are suggested at tree junctions to overcome assessment overestimation related to accumulating the effect of dependent, redundant, and non-concurrent risks, and ignoring the effectiveness of safety precautions and measures that may reduce or eliminate risks. Operational logic gates are applied to properly combine the residual risk of static (non-moving) events and dynamic (moving) events that can concurrently influence safety. The model is programmed into an interactive interfaced intelligent system to simulate cases of risk assessment input, computations, and output. The system shows the advantages of using the model as a prognostic or diagnostic tool to estimate top risk event. Subjective linguistic risk values can be induced for basic risk events at the bottom of the tree, and conditional risk events controlling residual risk values can be induced at different levels of the tree. Fuzzy logic plays a key role in hosting subjective risk evaluation into computational truth values to generate realistic and meaningful assessment values that are helpful for risk control.

BACKGROUND: One of the main problems that may put people’s safety in danger is the lack of real-time detection, evaluation, and recognition of predictable safety risks. Current real-time risk identification solutions are limited to proximity sensing, which lack providing the exposed person with risk-specific information in real-time. Combined values of concurrently presented risks are either unrecognized or underestimated. OBJECTIVE: This study goes beyond the proximity sensing state-of-the-art by envisioning, planning, designing, developing, assembling, and examining an automated intelligent real-time risk (AIR) assessment system. METHODS: A holistic safety assessment approach is followed to include identification, prioritization, detection, evaluation, and control at risk exposure time. Multi-sensor technologies based on RFID are integrated with a risk assessment intelligent system. System prototype is developed and examined to prove the concept for on-foot building construction worker. RESULTS: The evaluation of AIR assessment system performance proved its validity, significance, simplicity, representation, accuracy, and precision and timeliness. The reliability of providing quantitative proximity values of risk can be limited due to the signal attenuation; however, it can be reliable in providing risk proximity in a subjective linguistic fashion (Near/Far). CONCLUSION: The main contributions of the AIR assessment system are that the mobile wearable device can provide a linguistic meaningful risk assessment resultant value, the value represents the combined evaluation of concurrently presented risks, and can be sound delivered to the exposed person in real-time of exposure. Therefore, AIR system can be used as an effective prognostic risk assessment tool that can empower workers with real-time recognition and measurability of risk exposure.