Improving the prevention of fall from height on construction sites through the combination of technologies

Rey-Merchán, María del Carmen; Gómez-de-Gabriel, Jesús M.; Fernández‐Madrigal, Juan‐Antonio; López-Arquillos, Antonio

doi:10.1080/10803548.2020.1815393

Cited by 23 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Various authors from different countries, such as the USA [4], China [5], Spain [6], or Korea [7], have studied FFH accidents to arrive at a better understanding of occupational accidents [8]. Currently, many safety strategies can mitigate the risk of FFH accidents, such as prevention through design, collective protection (safety barriers, scaffolding, nets, and guardrails), and personal protective equipment (e.g., safety harnesses) [9,10]. The appropriate use of FFH preventive measures is regulated by rules, such as by OHSA, European Directives, or similar national regulations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The appropriate use of FFH preventive measures is regulated by rules, such as by OHSA, European Directives, or similar national regulations. Unfortunately, despite the legal requirements, often workers do not use safety measures properly because of discomfort, restriction of movements or low risk perception, and FFH accidents continue to happen [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of Falls from Height Variables in Occupational Accidents

Rey-Merchán

Gómez-de-Gabriel

López-Arquillos

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Fall-from-height accidents are linked to severe and fatal consequences for impacted workers. A better understanding of the related variables is necessary to improve worker safety. This study analyzed all fall-from-height occupational accidents recorded in Spain from 2009 to 2019, selected significant variables, and evaluated the influence concerning the seriousness of the falls from height. Based on a total of 290,583 fall-from-height accidents, the study shows that a male inexperienced worker in a small company working in a non-habitual workplace is more likely to suffer fatal consequences once the accident happens. An improved knowledge of fall-from-height accidents will improve safety conditions. The workers should be trained and informed about their specific risk depending on the variables analyzed. Safety training should consider more risky profiles. Results from the current study can help identify suitable fall prevention and risk mitigation actions in safety programs for companies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Falls from Height Variables in Occupational Accidents

Rey-Merchán

Gómez-de-Gabriel

López-Arquillos

et al. 2021

IJERPH

Self Cite

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“…Similar points have been put forward by other researchers. As a BLE-based safety monitoring system has several limitations, the integration of BLE with other sensor technologies, such as BIM, RFID, and GPS, can improve the effectiveness of safety monitoring systems in the construction sector [58].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beacon-Based Individualized Hazard Alarm System for Construction Sites: An Experimental Study on Sensor Deployment

et al. 2021

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Researchers have proposed several forms of beacon sensor-based hazard alarm systems for increasing construction workers’ awareness of site hazards, but research on how to deploy beacon sensors so that the system is adequate for achieving timely individualized hazard alarms is scarce. Against this background, this research investigates the impact of different beacon sensor locations in a construction site on how quickly a worker can receive the individualized hazard alarms. This research took an experimental study approach to address this objective. After a prototype of a beacon-based hazard alarm system was developed, the system was tested in a concrete structure building under construction. In the experiment, the locations where the experimenter received the first hazard alarm were recorded in repetitive trials while the beacon sensor was located in four different locations, such as (1) at the entrance of the room, (2) behind the front side wall, (3) on the internal wall facing the access point, and (4) on the internal wall not facing the access point and in a partially enclosed room in the concrete structure. The rate of successful alarm notification (i.e., the rate that the person received the hazard alarm before arriving at the target location) was 89%, 68%, 48%, and 19%, respectively, for the four locations of the beacon sensor. Meanwhile, the heat maps indicating where the hazard alarm notification was received show that the “behind the front side wall” setting yielded the most desired pattern of notification reception, wherein the person received the hazard alarm just before arriving at the room. These results show that the hazard alarm function of the system could be severely affected by the beacon sensor’s location and implies that the locations of beacon sensors should be decided carefully based on the type of hazard involved and the workers targeted for receiving the alarms.

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“…In addition, the cost of communication infrastructure in a temporary workplace can be particularly high. In contrast, other sensor technologies, such as BLE [51] and RFID [52] are more suitable for applications in construction. The main advantages of these technologies are their easy configuration, good maintainability, accuracy, and stability, and their low power usage [53].…”

Section: Technology Authors Proposal Signalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevention of Falls from Heights in Construction Using an IoT System Based on Fuzzy Markup Language and JFML

2022

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The main cause of fatal accidents in the construction sector are falls from height (FFH) and the inappropriate use of a harness is commonly associated with these fatalities. Traditional methods, such as onsite inspections, safety communication, or safety training, are not enough to mitigate accidents caused by FFH associated with a poor management in the use of a harness. Although some technological solutions for the automated monitoring of workers could improve safety conditions, their use is not frequent due to the particularities of construction sites: complexity, dynamic environments, outdoor workplaces, etc. Then, the integration of expert knowledge with technology is a key issue. Fuzzy logic systems (FLS) and Internet of Things (IoT) present many potential benefits, such as real-time decisions being made based on FLS and data from sensors. In the current research, the development and test of an IoT system integrated with the Java Fuzzy Markup Language Library for FLS, to support experts’ decision making in FFH, is proposed. The proposal was checked in four construction scenarios based on working conditions with different levels of risk of FFH and obtained promising results.

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Improving the prevention of fall from height on construction sites through the combination of technologies

Cited by 23 publications

References 31 publications

Analysis of Falls from Height Variables in Occupational Accidents

Analysis of Falls from Height Variables in Occupational Accidents

Beacon-Based Individualized Hazard Alarm System for Construction Sites: An Experimental Study on Sensor Deployment

Prevention of Falls from Heights in Construction Using an IoT System Based on Fuzzy Markup Language and JFML

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