A proof of concept application of sensing technologies for managing proximity hazards on construction sites

Construction is among the most dangerous industries for the safety of workers. Due to the dynamism typical of construction sites, where labor, materials and equipment resources are often in motion, collisions and contact with moving construction machineries and heavy equipment represents one of the main safety problems. The study described in this paper concerns with the preliminary development of a proximity warning system (PWS) for construction activities, which is based on the implementation of sensing technologies for situation awareness. Preliminary results, the feasibility of the PWS and its practical potential are described, highlighting the needs of a continuous monitoring process and the expectations about the system configuration. The adoption of the Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology is within the scope of the paper. A front-end loader and an excavator are the construction machineries taken into account for the analysis of the use case, which considers the differences between equipment with fixed and variable geometries in terms of sensorisation. The possibilities for real-time position tracking of labor and equipment in both outdoor and indoor conditions based on the system architecture settings are discussed. Moreover, the compliance of the system architecture with the requirements imposed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is described. Future works will validate the system in the context of actual construction sites. Furthermore, factors to be considered when sensing technologies for tracking the position of resources on construction sites are implemented will be evaluated as far as planning and scheduling activities are concerned.