The Dark Side of the Drones: A Review of Emerging Safety Implications in Construction

Abstract

The construction industry has experienced a significantly rapid integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), (known as drones) within multifarious construction applications due to their prevalent stature in accessibility, reliability, accuracy, and low-cost. Given the dynamic nature of the hazard-prone construction sites, the rapid proliferation of UAVs potentially incorporates additional operational complexities, hazards, and associated safety risks. These safety implications are emerging in the absence of construction-specific UAV-standard guidelines and strategies for effective risk mitigation. Despite the remarkable benefits, UAVs can expose workers to a wide range of unwarranted workplace hazards, especially when operating around densely populated construction sites. This study aims to (1) explore the current understanding of the UAV-associated safety risks and (2) identify the potential risks to which construction workers are exposed. Collisions with workers and properties have been found to be the key safety risks of UAV adoption. In this context, due to the scarcity of studies, there is a substantial lack of construction-based safety understanding relevant to UAV applications. It is expected that the industry professionals and practitioners can benefit from the presented information to effectively address the safety risks and develop appropriate control measures to ensure safe operation by preventing accidents.

Modeling relation among implementing AI-based drones and sustainable construction project success

“…The first part, "Technical and Functional Barriers," is made up of 5 barriers with high factor loadings, meaning they are highly correlated with each other and can be thought of as obstacles relating to the integration and compatibility of AI-based drone technology with existing construction systems, safety and privacy concerns, regulatory and legal barriers, and a lack of standardization in the technology (Yıldızel and Calış, 2019;Khalid et al, 2021).…”

“…These include the belief that drone technology is not suited for construction operations, the dedication that drones cannot be adapted to meet the unique requirements of certain businesses or projects, opposition from human employees who fear being replaced by drones or working alongside AI technology, and regulatory and legal obstacles. Economic and sustainability concern the potential financial and environmental costs companies may incur using drone technology (Yıldızel and Calış, 2019;Khalid et al, 2021). Drone technology has several obstacles, including its high upfront cost, restricted range of applications in construction, its fragile nature and the need for routine maintenance, its inability to scale to more significant building projects, and environmental constraints like noise or pollution.…”

“…With a group effect value of 3, the Privacy and Legal Barriers construct is the least relevant in forecasting the adoption of AI-based drones in the construction business. Also, C16 has been eliminated from this construct, suggesting that it did not play a role in the measurement and may need to be included in future studies (Khalid et al, 2021). Lastly, the group impact score of 3 for Environmental Protection and Public Health and Safety indicates that these concepts are relatively relevant in forecasting the use of AI-based drones in the construction business.…”