Ibrahim, Abdullahi Alabi (2024) Construction workers' situational awareness: Investigating the role of physical fatigue, workplace dynamism, and emerging technologies. PhD thesis, Texas A&M University, USA.
Abstract
The unique and dynamic nature of the construction industry, coupled with the increasing integration of emerging technologies and concerning accident rates, have spurred heightened research attention on improving workers' Situational Awareness (SA) for enhanced construction safety. Despite this focus, there are notable knowledge gaps in understanding how human factors, the transient nature of construction work, and the adoption of emerging technologies affect workers' SA. This research seeks to address these gaps by investigating the influence of physicalfatigue, workplace dynamism, and emerging technologies like robots and wearable exoskeletons on construction workers' SA. This dissertation has three objectives to achieve the research aim. First, this research conducts an experimental study to track individuals' physical fatigue in real-time using wearable sensors and assess the impact of fatigue on workers' SA. The result showed that fatigue significantly reduced hazard recognition performance (HRP) and also reduced safety risks perception (SRP), both of which are components of SA, but it was insignificant. Second, the study surveyed construction workers using a questionnaire with five case scenarios, varying in hazard information, to explore how the transient nature of construction sites impacts workers' SA. The result showed that varying hazard information significantly impacts their SRP, however, the construction workers failed to significantly perceive risks tied to gradual changes in the scenario and failed to perceive increase in the number of workers in a hazardous scenario which increases the risk exponentially. Additionally, the research explored empirically the impact of work dynamism and robot integration to determine their combined effect on workers' SA. The result showed that work dynamism and the introduction of robots had a significant impact on HRP, SRP and recommendation of effective safety control in deep excavation, bricklaying operation and work at height. The findings underscore the importance of adapting safety practices to the challenges posed by dynamic and robotic construction environments. Third, the research conducts an experimental study to determine the effect of a wearable exoskeleton on the SA of construction workers. The result showed that the presence of exoskeletons does not negatively affect workers' ability to identify hazards or perceive safety risks. This suggests that the integration of exoskeletons into construction workflows can be done without compromising safety awareness. Through multiple studies, this dissertation advances construction safety knowledge and practice by unearthing critical relationships that can inform the use and timing of safety practices.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Nnaji, Chukwuma |
| Index terms: | fatigue, construction site, experiment, integration, questionnaire, construction safety, deep excavation, workflow, human factor, emerging technology, wearable sensor, robotic construction, presence, construction work, construction industry, construction worker, dissertation |
| Subjects: | research dissemination and communication, practitioner, operations management, innovation and technology management, environmental science, computer vision, automation and robotics, data collection methods, work location, management, health conditions and diseases, geotechnical engineering, organizational analysis, occupational health and safety management, environmental health, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Site Management, Organizational Design, Digital Applications, Sustainability, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Health and Safety |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here