Evaluation of Drone-Induced Balance Loss of Roofers on Sloped Surfaces [preprint]

Details

• Personal Author:
  Mouri, Mahfuza Maisha ; Han, Wei ; Xu, Liqun ; Zhu, Zhenhua ; Loh, Wei-Yin ; Dai, Fei
• Description:
  Roofers face high risks of injuries and fatalities while working on inclined surfaces with awkward postures. The presence of drones may exacerbate these risks by distracting workers and impairing their postural stability. This study evaluated the effects of drone distraction on roofers' postural stability. Twenty-two participants simulated shingle installation on a wooden roof platform with three roof pitches (0, 3/12, 6/12) and four drone conditions (no drone and drones at 16, 48, and 82 ft). Using a virtual reality (VR) headset, participants experienced a virtual roof site while kneeling on a force plate. Center of pressure (COP) trajectories were recorded and processed into a stability indicator of sway area for statistical analysis. Results showed that closer drone proximity significantly increased distraction, compromising stability. These findings emphasize the need to address drone-induced safety challenges in roofing environments to protect roofers' safety. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Construction Industry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Construction industry; Roofers; Roofing industry; Roof falls; Accident prevention; Virtual reality; Posture; Safety research
• Source:
  Computing in Civil Engineering 2025: Computational and Intelligent Technologies: Selected Papers from the ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering 2025, May 11-14, 2025, New Orleans, Louisiana. Jafari A, Zhu Y eds. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2026 Jan; :942-951
• ISBN:
  9780784486436
• Publisher:
  American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Chicago Region [OSHA] ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA] ; West Virginia ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  12 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071654
• Contact Point Address:
  Mahfuza Maisha Mouri, Wadsworth Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV
• Email:
  mm00286@mix.wvu.edu
• Editor(s):
  Jafari, Amirhosein ; Zhu, Yimin
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Performing Organization:
  University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20230930
• End Date:
  20250929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c186ef6ceade1b22f0c442b41a3b90b8c06aedb501c86db4f945cec99c20e8329172590ec695715eef2d8043131eaf10f5f83ca9846d5fcd3367fb2910b2866e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/259427/cdc_259427_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 726.86 KB ]