Priyadarshini, Shalini (2025) Setu: Safety in excavation and trenching for you a training and decision-making support tool for worker safety in excavation and trenching operations in construction. PhD thesis, Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
Abstract
Trenching and excavation are important and indispensable activities on construction projects. However, they are recognized as some of the most hazardous construction jobs and present significant risks that can lead to injuries and deaths. An OSHA study states that fatality rates for trenching are 112% higher than that of the construction industry jobs. This PhD research focuses on addressing the safety risks associated with trenching and excavation in construction, activities that are essential yet inherently dangerous. This research uses a mixed methods framework to understand reasons for the limited adoption of proven protective systems in the construction industry and investigates the underlying reasons for this reluctance. The PhD research methodology includes five key components and associated deliverables: 1. A comprehensive literature review covering safety in construction, excavation and trenching deaths, worker training for safety, the OSHA standards for excavation and trenching, guidelines from agencies like NIOSH and CDC, and strategies aimed at improving worker safety during construction activities. 2. Creating two separate databases for: a) Fatalities in excavation and trenching (2009-2021), and b) Severe injuries in excavation and trenching (2015-2021) using publicly available data from OSHA. 3. Industry surveys to explore challenges in improving worker safety during excavation and trenching activities and to obtain on-the-ground feedback on desired features for training and educational tools and programs. 114. Data analysis and reporting fora) Fatalities and severe injuries in excavation and trenching b) Industry surveys 5. Creating, testing and disseminating an innovative new workforce training and decision-making support tool aimed to improve worker safety in excavation and trenching. The final deliverable of this PhD research is a workforce training and decision-making support tool in the form of a web based application aimed to improve construction worker safety in excavation and trenching. The application – Safety in Excavation and Trenching for yoU (SETU) – is a free, platform independent tool designed to improve worker safety by 1) making information about trenching safety available on handheld mobile devices, 2) breaking down cognitively complex safety ideas and intricate jargon into everyday language, 3) offering an intuitive, easy to use interface requiring no additional training for adoption, and 4) providing decision-making support for the protection systems with only a few inputs from the user. SETU aims to improve access to information about hazards, soil classification and testing and protection systems. It allows the user to choose the most appropriate protection system to improve safety and is available in both English and Spanish. By providing easy, accessible and understandable safety training, this PhD research aims to improve the adoption of work safety practices including the use of proven protection systems. The research aims to provide a positive impact on one of the leading causes of construction fatalities and contribute to safer construction site practices.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Mendeloff, John |
| Index terms: | program, construction project, decision-making, excavation, agency, data analysis, injury, literature review, strategy, construction site, survey, research methodology, construction worker, fatalities, construction industry, testing, safety training, access to information, platform, mixed method, construction activity, database |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, research design and methodology, work location, data analysis and analytics, management, health risk and incident analysis, software systems, occupational health and safety management, data management, health conditions and diseases, sociology, decision analysis, industry analysis, practitioner, professional practice, construction operations, production management, social equity, digital design |
| Topics: | Site Management, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Ethics, Risk Management, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Project Management |
| 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