Construction Research Congress 2020
Impact of Worker Fatigue on Hazard Recognition Skills
Publication: Construction Research Congress 2020: Safety, Workforce, and Education
ABSTRACT
Hazard recognition is a fundamental skill required for nearly all construction injury prevention activities. Unfortunately, researchers have consistently found that work crews identify and discuss less than half of the hazards that they face in a typical work period. Fatigue has shown to compromise workers attention and reaction capabilities. However, the effect of fatigue on hazard recognition (HR) performance has not been previously studied. This paper studies this relationship by leveraging empirical data collected from 155 electrical power transmission and distribution line (TD) workers in the U.S. The level of fatigue of TD workers was assessed using the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) and their ability to identify hazards was documented by the visual inspection of three different construction scenarios. Spearman correlation statistical analyses were performed, and the results indicate a negative correlation between fatigue and HR ability (r = - 0.21, p=0.015). These results emphasize the importance of improving fatigue management in construction to improve awareness and prevent injuries. Additionally, collecting data in the field enhanced the ecological validity of this work, complementing laboratory studies, and providing confidence that the relationship is pervasive in the field.
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Information
Published In
Construction Research Congress 2020: Safety, Workforce, and Education
Pages: 306 - 314
Editors: Mounir El Asmar, Ph.D., Arizona State University, David Grau, Ph.D., Arizona State University, and Pingbo Tang, Ph.D., Arizona State University
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8287-2
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Nov 9, 2020
Published in print: Nov 9, 2020
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