Hazardous Proximity Zone Design for Heavy Construction Excavation Equipment

Abstract

The construction industry continues to be among the leading industries for workplace fatalities in the United States. After experiencing 824 fatal injuries in 2013, the construction industry ranks as one of the most dangerous work environments when compared with other private industrial sectors in the United States. Conditions of construction sites often produce hazardous proximity situations by requiring pedestrian workers and heavy equipment to operate at close proximity. Injury and fatality statistics indicate that current safety practices of construction workers have proven inadequate. The research aims to design hazard zone around pieces of heavy construction equipment in which site personnel should not enter during construction operations. The scope is limited to construction sites and equipment at a horizontal grade and hazards between heavy construction excavation equipment and workers-on-foot. A framework for creating the hazard zone around a piece of construction equipment is presented including detailed methodology discussions for each step. A user interface is also presented that automatically creates a hazard zone around select pieces of construction equipment based on user-defined parameters. The hazard zone for a dump truck, excavator, and backhoe are shown using the created framework. Results indicate that hazard zones for pedestrian workers can be created around construction equipment to increase hazard awareness for workers. Contributions for this research include a user-friendly hazard zone creation tool and database for safety managers and scientific evaluation data of the created hazard zone framework. Safety standards can be formulated based on the design and implement hazard zones on equipment.