Road Construction Safety: Hazard Detection Study
- Traditionally, safety efforts have focused on drivers navigating work zones.
- Researchers at the University of Dayton are developing a new system to address these challenges: the Integrated Acoustic and Vision Sensing System for Worker Safety Early Warning.
- The system utilizes a combination of sensors to provide comprehensive hazard detection:
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AI-Powered Safety System Aims to Protect Road Construction Workers
The Problem: Risks Faced by Road Construction Workers
Road construction is inherently hazardous. Traditionally, safety efforts have focused on drivers navigating work zones. Though, workers *inside* those zones face notable risks from heavy equipment, limited visibility, and noisy environments. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, highway, street, and bridge to the construction industry accounted for 139 fatalities in 2022. This represents a substantial portion of all construction-related deaths.
The Solution: Integrated Acoustic and Vision Sensing System
Researchers at the University of Dayton are developing a new system to address these challenges: the Integrated Acoustic and Vision Sensing System for Worker Safety Early Warning. This system aims to enhance situational awareness for both workers and project managers by detecting hazards before they cause harm.
How the System Works: A Multi-Sensor Approach
The system utilizes a combination of sensors to provide comprehensive hazard detection:
- Vision Sensors: Thermal and visible-light cameras provide visual data, effective in both good and low-visibility conditions.Thermal cameras are especially useful at night, in fog, or during rain.
- Acoustic Sensors: A microphone array triangulates the location of potential hazards even when they are obscured from view.
- Location Tracking: Bluetooth devices and GPS-referenced beacons track the location of each worker on the job site.
by combining these data streams, the system creates a real-time, high-risk map of the job site, identifying areas where workers are at risk.
Interview with Hui “Jack” Wang
WYSO’s Mike Frazier spoke with Hui “Jack” Wang,associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Dayton,about the system.
Hui “Jack” Wang
“we call it Integrated Acoustic and Vision sensing System for Worker Safety Early Warning. So our aim is to enhance the job site situational awareness of our workers and also the site project managers. The system can identify the location of potential hazards, like slow-moving heavy equipment during the noisy and maybe the low visibility conditions so that workers who might potentially be close to that heavy equipment can be reminded and alarmed so that they can pay attention to the surrounding habitat and avoid potential injury.”
Hui “Jack” Wang
“This is a sensor array, so Vision means we have thermal cameras and also the visible-light cameras. During good visibility conditions, probably both cameras can be effective. But under the very low visibility conditions like during the night shift and also maybe foggy and rainy conditions, probably a thermal camera is more effective. If there’s an obstacle or some kind of object blocking a site, probably the microphone array can triangulate the location of the potential hazards without seeing it. That would be kind of secondary. Or sometimes it even can be the primary equipment for identifying hazards.”
Hui “Jack” Wang
“We certainly know the location of each worker using Bluetooth devices and the GPS-referenced beacon, so we know where the workers are and we know where the hazards are, so we can compute a kind of high-risk map of the job site in real time. So if any worker is in…”