Safety Challenges of UAV Integration in the Construction Industry : Focusing on Workers at Height

Abstract

"Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used on construction sites, which are already dangerous. While offering benefits, UAVs' introduction can adversely affect the health and safety of workers, especially those who work at height. UAVs can cause distraction, which can increase the likelihood of falls. Working with these flying robots, because they are capable of recording worker activities, can also affect the psychological or emotional state of workers. This study evaluated the impact of working with or near UAVs for construction workers at height. A virtual construction site was developed to simulate different high-risk scenarios, and user experiments were conducted to evaluate, using wearable sensors and self-reported questionnaires, how UAVs affected workers' attentional and psychophysiological states. A total of 153 subjects participated in two experiments in this study. The results of the first experiment indicate that UAVs cause distraction and reduce workers' attention on the tasks at hand. The results of the second experiment suggest that UAVs at some distance cause more distraction to workers than UAVs in close proximity. The experiments did not provide evidence to indicate that UAVs cause significant psychological or emotional distress." -- NIOSHTIC-2NIOSHTIC no. 20067594CPWR is the research and training arm of NABTU. Production of this document was supported by cooperative agreement OH 009762 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIOSH.Report #21-6-PSSS2022-UAV-safety-integration.pdfproduction of this document was supported by cooperative agreement OH 009762 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH