Worker-Centric Path Planning: Simulating Hazardous Energy to Control Construction Safety Using Graph Theory

Abstract

Occupational accidents in the European Union continue to pose a significant threat to construction workers, with skill-based errors contributing substantially to these incidents. Virtual training gains prominence in improving skills, but evaluating trainee performance based on safety behavior is challenging to quantify. This paper introduces a pioneering worker-centric simulation that assesses the hazardous energy that a worker may be exposed to while navigating a construction site. The result of the simulation is a Safety Graph, aiding in determining the safest routes for workers. The graph is generated based on a known construction site geometry, with each node representing a one-square-meter area. The simulation developed in the game engine Unity calculates hazardous energy associated with falls and trips that a worker is exposed to when moving between nodes. The evaluation demonstrates a 97% accuracy in estimating hazardous energy. A practical application in virtual training demonstrates how the approach allows for quantifying the safety performances of workers. The study, however, reveals minor shortcomings in the simulation, such as considering an energy threshold or incorporating more hazard types. The results also indicate further applications of the Safety Graph, hinting at its potential in hazard detection or forwarding the safest paths to construction workers using smart glasses.