Technologies to Prevent Serious Injuries and Fatalities Related to Last-minute Work Changes

Construction site safety is both unconditionally important and painfully confounding. Despite decades of research and the implementation of countless injury prevention strategies, serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) continue to plague the construction industry. Clearly, the industry needs to devote new efforts and continued attention to eliminating SIFs.

The pressure to perform work amid the complex and dynamic conditions on a construction site can magnify the possibility of making risky decisions during the performance of that work. In fact, past research has identified that last-minute change and improvisation are key precursors to SIFs, especially in stressful situations. One option for preventing SIFs due to last-minute changes is to look for applications of technology, which is increasingly being leveraged to improve construction, including with respect to safety.

CII organized and chartered Research Team 382 (RT-382) to investigate how technologies can be utilized to prevent and/or mitigate last-minute changes that could lead to serious injuries and fatalities. The team accomplished its work in three phases:

1. The team began the project by conducting a comprehensive search for currently available technologies that could be used to prevent and/or mitigate a last-minute change, which the team defined as “an unexpected, unplanned, non-routine deviation in a condition, action, or process that occurs or manifests at the work face when there is limited time available to plan for and address the change.” Further study of changes to work processes and situational awareness gave the team insights into the capabilities and competencies that technologies would need to possess:
   • Monitor the work process.
   • Identify and comprehend the occurrence of a change.
   • Identify options for responding to the change.
   • Determine which option to choose.
   • Implement the chosen option.

2. RT-382 then investigated the relationship between last-minute changes and SIFs, and documented instances when technologies could be effectively implemented to mitigate last-minute changes. By evaluating approximately 180 fatality cases published within the NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program, the team successfully characterized how last-minute changes are associated with fatality incidents on construction sites. Next, the team used the Delphi technique to gain consensus around the most potent factors, such as cost, ease-of-use, and resource demand.
   
   The team exposed two types of last-minute changes that were both particularly prevalent and potentially suitable for technology application:
   • Last-minute changes in the proximity of humans to equipment 
   • Last-minute changes in the planned work process

3. The team used examples available in literature and the Delphi technique to capture team members’ collective knowledge and experience. Then the team developed a technology adoption protocol to help organizations decide whether to adopt each technology to mitigate last-minute changes. The protocol is supported by three levels of evaluation: a high-level preliminary evaluation, an assessment of the technology and its fit within an organization, and a field assessment of its applicability to last-minute changes. The team created detailed checklists for use at each step in the evaluation, and refined and verified these lists through multiple real-world technology assessments.

• Last-minute changes are a significant cause of many SIFs.
• Mitigating the safety-related impacts of last-minute changes is a complex process.
• Technologies can help humans performing the work and improve safety on jobsites when last-minute changes occur.
• However, currently available technologies can only perform elements of the process for specific worksite conditions.
• Technologies need to develop further before they can fully utilize the benefits of artificial intelligence to prevent SIFs due to last-minute changes.