Development of a Safety Management System Tracking the Weight of Heavy Objects Carried by Construction Workers Using FSR Sensors

Abstract

It has been pointed out that the act of carrying a heavy object that exceeds a certain weight by a worker at a construction site is a major factor that puts physical burden on the worker’s musculoskeletal system. However, due to the nature of the construction site, where there are a large number of workers simultaneously working in an irregular space, it is difficult to figure out the weight of the object carried by the worker in real time or keep track of the worker who carries the excess weight. This paper proposes a prototype system to track the weight of heavy objects carried by construction workers by developing smart safety shoes with FSR (Force Sensitive Resistor) sensors. The system consists of smart safety shoes with sensors attached, a mobile device for collecting initial sensing data, and a web-based server computer for storing, preprocessing and analyzing such data. The effectiveness and accuracy of the weight tracking system was verified through the experiments where a weight was lifted by each experimenter from +0 kg to +20 kg in 5 kg increments. The results of the experiment were analyzed by a newly developed machine learning based model, which adopts effective classification algorithms such as decision tree, random forest, gradient boosting algorithm (GBM), and light GBM. The average accuracy classifying the weight by each classification algorithm showed similar, but high accuracy in the following order: random forest (90.9%), light GBM (90.5%), decision tree (90.3%), and GBM (89%). Overall, the proposed weight tracking system has a significant 90.2% average accuracy in classifying how much weight each experimenter carries.

Safety Management in Sustainable Construction Projects: A Conceptual Framework

“…Safety management has been defined as a promotion of good safety performance and safety culture (Grote, 2012). It has also been recognized as the use safety components to manage safety policy; safety resources and responsibilities; risk identification and mitigation; standards and procedures; human factors-based system design; safety training; safety performance monitoring; incident reporting and investigation; auditing; continuous improvement; and change (Grote, 2012;Kukoyi & Adebowale, 2021;Lee & Son, 2021). These components should not only be seen as general standards but also be included in any safety management system (Grote, 2012).…”

“…''Construction is one of the most hazardous industries due to its dynamic, temporary, and decentralized nature'' (Li et al, 2015, p.107). Construction projects' considerable risks for the society, economy, and the environment have been well recognized ever since construction projects were initiated (Grote, 2012;Lee & Son, 2021). In line with this argument, Loushine et al (2006) have pointed out that construction has always been considered a dangerous work environment.…”

“…Construction projects also have their problems and risks, especially the complicated structure, volume, and mechanism, which critically enhance the structural design as well as site and construction technologies (Li et al, 2021). At the same time, the construction period of complicated or large construction projects is long, the working environment is tough, and a large amount of workload and working procedures could produce safety hazards (Li et al, 2021;Lee & Son, 2021). Yet, the fatal accident rate in construction projects tends to be more than that of any other industry (Park & Hyeon-Jin, 2013).…”

“…In other words, sustainable construction adopts and applies sustainability ideas to direct the construction and operation tasks during the whole life cycle of a typical construction project (Tahmasebinia et al, 2020;Udomsap & Hallinger, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020). However, like the traditional construction projects, sustainable construction projects range from medium to large and vary depending on the complexity, size, and duration of such projects (Gharehbaghi & McManus, 2003;Heravi & Faeghi, 2014;Lee & Son, 2021). This implies that achieving efficient safety management in such projects is not only challenging but also very complicated (Gunduz & Almuajebh, 2020;Tahmasebinia et al, 2020;Udomsap & Hallinger, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020).…”

“…Considering the arguments about the effectiveness of safety management in sustainable construction projects (Grote, 2012;Kukoyi & Adebowale, 2021;Loushine et al, 2006;Marhavilas et al, 2018;Okoye & Okolie, 2013;Zacchei & Molina, 2020), the question on how to apply safety management components of tradition construction projects in sustainable construction project gains increased importance. The reason is that the relevant research in the last two decades has substantially discussed successful safety management in traditional construction projects (Kim et al, 2020;Kukoyi & Adebowale, 2021;Lee & Son, 2021;Li et al, 2015;Liwång, 2020), but did not address, efficiently, the issue of safety management in sustainable construction projects (Li et al, 2021;Loushine et al, 2006;Marhavilas et al, 2018;Okoye & Okolie, 2013;Robichaud & Anantatmula, 2011;Zacchei & Molina, 2020) Therefore, this research will fill this gap by constructing a conceptual framework that aims to integrate safety management in sustainable construction projects, to produce safe sustainable construction projects. In particular, this systematic review will investigate the essential safety management components that are needed to produce safe sustainable construction projects, and illustrate the research outcome in an effective conceptual framework.…”