Image-Based Safety Assessment: Automated Spatial Safety Risk Identification of Earthmoving and Surface Mining Activities

This paper presents an automated image-based safety assessment method for earthmoving and surface mining activities. The literature review revealed the possible causes of accidents on earthmoving operations, investigated the spatial risk factors of these types of accident, and identified spatial data needs for automated safety assessment based on current safety regulations. Image-based data collection devices and algorithms for safety assessment were then evaluated. Analysis methods and rules for monitoring safety violations were also discussed. The experimental results showed that the safety assessment method collected spatial data using stereo vision cameras, applied object identification and tracking algorithms, and finally utilized identified and tracked object information for safety decision-making. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000438. (C) 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.