Improving Work Zone Safety Utilizing a New Mobile Proximity Sensing Technology

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cho YK ; Park J ; Yang X
• Description:
  Safety is one of the most important components to be addressed during construction. During the past decade, approximately a quarter of all construction fatalities have been caused by visibility-related issues, a majority of which involve construction equipment and pedestrian workers. To provide alerts to both operators and workers in real time during a hazardous proximity situation, a new proximity sensing and alert system utilizing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology was investigated, and a proof-of-concept system was developed by the Robotics & Intelligent Construction Automation Laboratory (RICAL) at Georgia Tech. The major objective of this study was to identify and understand the relationship among vehicle speeds, distance, and signal delay of the system through several tests in a controlled environment. A new algorithm was developed to reflect dynamic movements of construction equipment and workers. Also, real-world field tests and surveys were conducted to analyze the reliability and accuracy of the system. The test results were promising, and the system was also positively evaluated by the participating equipment operators and pedestrian workers. Overall, it was validated that the Bluetooth proximity safety alert sensing system can provide an additional layer of collision avoidance in real time during hazardous proximity situations in dynamic construction work zones. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Construction Equipment Construction Industry Construction Workers Equipment Operators Mobile Equipment Proximity Detection Sensors Warning Systems
• Publisher:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Guidance
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-13
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057654
• Citation:
  Silver Spring, MD: CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, 2017 Jul; :1-13
• Email:
  yong.cho@ce.gatech.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  Improving work zone safety utilizing a new mobile proximity sensing technology
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:33c73f3c4776004b8c9ee3938343d55981191448b4f1df0ec415c60a626afc7cf2d94bf189175f68f036379c8a3226dd6df1a8e83c76db94fb01ce6f6428ae67
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214923/cdc_214923_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.07 MB ]