Contribution of UAS Monitoring to Safety Planning and Control

Abstract

Among the technologies used for safety management at construction sites, Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) stands out due to its ability to capture images and videos of large areas, reduce data collection and processing times, and improve risk identification at the jobsite. Despite the advances in safety monitoring using UAS, there is still a gap regarding the effective use of information provided by this technology for assisting Safety Planning and Control (SPC). This study proposes a set of practices to incorporate the information collected from a UAS safety monitoring system into SPC routines. The research strategy used was the Design Science Research (DSR), and preliminary implementation of the artifact occurred during 14 weeks in a residential construction project. The evaluation involved establishing a set of constructs and variables such as transparency, collaboration, and utility to analyze the contributions of the practices proposed. As preliminary contributions, results show that the visual display implementation significantly impacted the sharing of safety information, the awareness of safety conditions, and the promotion of new learnings for workers. Moreover, the practices implemented provided foreman participation in decision-making related to safety and construction site organization and housekeeping.

Potential Application of Deep Learning and UAS for Guardrail Safety Inspection

“…The results show that the UAS can provide valuable information about on-site compliance with safety regulations, especially identifying workers in areas without guardrail systems or fall arrest systems. Lima et al (2021) implemented UAS safety monitoring in a construction site to improve safety planning and control (SPC). The results present that the visual assets collected using UAS could be used to plan preventive and corrective actions, improve the collaboration between the safety and production teams, and increase the transparency of safety conditions.…”