Identifying Hazards in Transportation Construction and Maintenance Tasks

Abstract

Construction and maintenance of the transport infrastructure presents many hazards to workers. In the United Kingdom (UK), safety issues are recognized by government agencies (e.g., Health and Safety Commission, Highways Agency), academia, and industry alike. Increasing skill shortages and an aging working population present problems on collating, organizing, and redistributing safety knowledge before existing workers retire or change jobs. Any influx of international workers also brings problems of language, effective communication, and training into the mix. The knowledge and experience of these workers needs to be tapped and used in the measurement of risks and their subsequent management. In response to these issues, the artificial intelligence methodology, case-based reasoning, has been incorporated into an information technology tool to improve hazard identification and management during a worker's daily tasks of identifying hazards and determining appropriate mitigations. The tool prompts users to classify a given work task and then, using a stored library of cases, suggests possible mitigation strategies. The user can accept or reject suggested mitigations. Results are fed back into the system, which becomes more refined for the next work task and next user. The tool is being developed in collaboration with Carillion Transport, a large UK infrastructure development and management contractor. It is in the development stages, but the ultimate aim will be deployment of the tool to those working in the field of construction and maintenance in infrastructure. A working example of the tool is given, followed by a presentation of its strengths and opportunity for improvement.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Carter

and Smith

S. D.

. Safety Hazard Identification on Construction Projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, Vol. 132, No. 2, pp. 197–205.

Health and Safety Executive. Construction Homepage. www.hse.gov.uk/construction. Accessed July 28, 2006.

Vedder

and Carey

. A Multi-Level Systems Approach for the Development of Tools, Equipment, and Work Processes for the Construction Industry. Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 36, No. 4 2005, pp. 471–480.

Health and Safety Executive. Comprehensive Statistics (Construction) in Support of the Revitalising Health and Safety Programmes. www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/rhscon.pdf. Accessed July 28, 2006.

Revitalising Health and Safety Strategy Statement. Department of Environment, Transport, and the Regions, London, 2000. www.hse.gov.uk/revitalising/strategy.pdf. Accessed May 25, 2007.

Egan

Rethinking Construction: The Report of the Construction Task Force to the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, on the Scope for Improving the Quality and Efficiency of UK Construction. Department of Environment, Transport, and the Regions, London, 1998. www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/pdf/rethinking%20construction/rethinking_construction_report.pdf. Accessed May 25, 2007.

Safety at Streetworks and Roadworks Code of Practice. Department of Environment, Transport, and the Regions, Stationary Office, London, 2001.

Haslam

R. A.

Hide

S. A.

Gibb

A. G. F.

Gyi

D. E.

Pavitt

Atkinson

and Duff

A. R.

. Contributing Factors in Construction Accidents. Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 36, No. 4 2005, pp. 401–415.

Watson

Case-Based Reasoning Is a Methodology, Not a Technology. Knowledge-Based Systems, Vol. 12, No. 5–6, 1999, pp. 303–308.

10.

Campbell

J. M.

and Smith

S. D.

. CBR Research Using the “THINK,” “PLAN,” “DO” Classification Method. Proc., 22nd Annual Conference, Association of Researchers in Construction Management, Birmingham, United Kingdom, Sept. 4–6, 2006.

11.

Khattak

A. J.

and Renski

. PLAN<>HOV: Case-Based Reasoning Planning Tool for High-Occupancy Vehicle Lane Analysis in a Geographic Information System Environment. In Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 1682, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1999, pp. 18–27.

12.

Sadek

A. W.

Hybrid Simulated Annealing and Case-Based Reasoning Approach for Computationally Intensive Transportation Problems: Rationale and Design Issues. In Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 1774, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 2001, pp. 18–24.

13.

A Guide to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. Health and Safety Executive, HSE Books, London, 1995.

14.

Gyi

D. E.

Gibb

A. G. F.

and Haslam

R. A.

. The Quality of Accident and Health Data in the Construction Industry: Interviews with Senior Managers. Construction Management and Economics, Vol. 17, No. 2 1999, pp. 197–204.