HARAMBEE UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT: ARTICLE REVIEW OF AN ARTICLE ON THE FIRM

CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP AS FIRM PERFORMANCE PREDICTORS

PREPARED BY:

FEBRUARY, 2023

BISHOFTU, ETHIOPIA
 1. Summary of the article

Title: Cyber physical system for safety management in smart construction site

Author: Weiguang Jiang, Lieyun Ding and Cheng Zhou Author (2019)

Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

1.1. Abstract

Construction safety has been a long-term problem in the development of the construction industry.
An increasing number of smart construction sites have been designed using different techniques to
reduce injuries caused by construction accidents and achieve proactive risk control. However,
comprehensive smart construction site safety management solutions and applications have yet to
be developed. Thus, in this article the purpose of the study was proposed as an assessment of smart
construction site framework for safety management.

From the methodology/approach perspective, a safety management system based on a cyber-

physical system is proposed. The system establishes risk data synchronization mapping between
the virtual construction and physical construction sites through scene reconstruction design, data
awareness, data communication and data processing modules was proposed. The results of the case
study have proved the management benefits of the system. On-site workers gradually realized that
they should enter the construction site based on the standard process and the number of people
close to the construction hazard areas decreased. But the study didn’t point out clearly the
methodologies used to achieve the purpose of the study in its abstract part.

Keywords Cyber-physical system, Safety management, Smart construction site, Petrochemical

construction

1.2. Introduction

The construction industry has been the hardest hit area in terms of production accidents
worldwide. According to the US Department of Labor (2016), the US construction industry
had the highest fatality rate in the industrial sector in 2017, with 971 deaths. The situation in
Britain was similar; deaths due to construction accidents, which ranked second to agriculture,
accounted for 27% of all industrial deaths (Health and Safety Commission, 2005). In China,
the number of accidents in the construction industry has topped the list of industrial, mining
and trade mishaps for nine consecutive years. The number of accidents and deaths has been
on the rise since 2016. In the first half of 2018 alone, 1,732 workplace safety accidents occurred
in China, resulting in 1,752 deaths (Safety Committee Office of the State Council of China,
2018). Accidents are difficult problems that affect the development of the construction
industry for a long time.

This situation occurs because the characteristics of the construction industry itself bring
more challenges to safety management. On the one hand, each construction project is unique,
and its working environment is generally outdoors with a strong risk randomness (Malik
et al., 2019). On the other hand, the level of automation in a construction site is relatively low,
and personnel’s unsafe behavior and state are easy to lead to safety accidents (William et al.,
1995). The application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and Internet of
Things (IoT) is essential to smart construction sites (Sutrisna et al., 2015). Real-time sensor
information can help personnel realize the edge of danger. Thus, an increasing number of risk
monitoring equipment and systems has been applied to field risk management. Proximity warning
systems, including sensing technologies, such as radar, sonar, global positioning system (GPS) and
ultra-wideband (UWB) have been widely studied and applied (Teizer et al., 2010; Ruff et al., 2001;
Lee et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2011). Most of the above sensor devices are used to sense the
distance between personnel or machinery and the danger source, achieving the purpose of early
warning.

For example, Kim et al. (2015) developed a safety assessment system by integrating vision and
fuzzy inference to monitor struck-by accidents in construction sites. Of course, the single data
cannot directly reflect the danger information, and it needs to be transformed into valuable
information through data analysis methods to identify more complex risks. For instance, some
scholars have conducted considerable research on the application of deep learning in the
identification of unsafe human behavior, such as not wearing a safety helmet or belt (Fang et al.,
2018a, b). For project level safety management, the data collection and analysis of engineering
elements should be supported by a systematic smart construction site framework.
This framework has never been an unfamiliar topic, and it has been studied by many
scholars for more efficient management. An accepted model is Cyber-physical system (CPS) for
construction, which is similar to smart factory. Its essence is: establish a virtual construction
that maps synchronously with physical site, to realize the flexible allocation of resources, on
demand execution of process, reasonable optimization of technique and rapid response of
environment (Lee, 2008). For example, Correa et al. uses CPS to optimize the installation process
of prefabricated components. A CPS-SMS system has been proposed to solve the risk control of
blind hoisting for underground construction (Zhou et al., 2019). Therefore, this article is to propose
a cyber-physical system (CPS) for on-site safety management, which can realize rapid response to
construction process risks. In this regard the article clearly articulated the purpose of the study and
introduced the subject of the study.

1.3. Discussion and future work

Concerning to cyber-physical system (CPS) for on-site safety management, the article reflected the
value of the system proposed and the article further discussed from the system level point of view.
Allg ower etal. (2019) believes that the four indicators of “adaptability, connectivity, autonomy and
collaboration” should be considered in evaluating the application effect of CPS. To better analyze
the system, the article externalized the abstract indicators above. Among them, adaptability refers
to the engineering objects that the CPS can cover; connectivity refers to the way of networking;
autonomy refers to the decision-making method; collaboration refers to the management level that
the system faces. Based on the above standards, the system proposed in this article was compared
with similar systems in recent five years. At the same time, to meet the safety monitoring needs of
different engineering tasks, the system is compatible with fixed network and mobile network. The
intelligent decision-making method is also embedded in the
original threshold control method. More importantly, this system is implemented from the
perspective of the project, which is more conducive to the formation and application of
the smart construction site. Similarly, there is still some work to be done in the future to improve
the CPS system when it is being studied for a more complete smart construction site. That is: (1)
the virtual model of the construction site can be established in a faster way, such as image-based
modeling or 3D laser scanning; (2) sensing and networking devices must be capable of flexible
deployment, and some fusion sensing approaches should be studied to improve system reliability;
iii) the centralized data processing approach needs to be improved. When the data volume
increases, it is difficult for the local server to carry the work of big data analysis. Therefore,
collaborative computing based on “edge-cloud” is a necessary work.
 1.4. Conclusion
The application of CPS has promoted the development of many industries, especially the
improvement of production safety, efficiency, and quality. Faced with the problem of safety
management in construction, this study proposes a system scheme for smart construction
sites based on CPS. The system establishes risk data synchronization mapping between the
virtual construction and physical construction sites through scene reconstruction design,
data awareness, data communication, and data processing modules. It also achieves real-time

perception, transmission, analysis and control of personnel, mechanical, component, and

environmental information. The application case in Wuhan Petrochemical Group proves that
the system can quickly alert the cross-border behavior of unauthorized workers, the collision
risk of hoisting components, and effectively improve the proactive control ability of on-site
safety management. However, the objectives monitored by the system remain insufficient;
such insufficiencies include a lack of operating parameters for the crane, the swinging state of
the rope, and other complex risk information. In this regard, the study comprehensively compared
the performance of this system and similar systems from four aspects: adaptability,
connectedness, autonomy, collaboration, and discuss the future development trends of
smart construction sites. It has also recommended that under the guidance of CPS, future work on
how to build a complete smart construction site will be conducted. Safety, construction quality and
efficiency issues in a virtual construction site will also be solved.

2. Strength and weakness of the article

2.1. Strength of the article

The article has come up with relevant topic and has clearly articulated the purpose of the study and
introduced the subject of the study well in its abstract part.

2.2. Weaknesses of the article

In this study, one limitation of the study pertains methodologies. The study didn’t clearly point out
the methodologies used to achieve the purpose of the study in its abstract part. In this regard, there
is a limitation and the researcher has not indicated on the validity issues briefly. There is also a
question in relation to tools of analysis.
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