Abstract:

Falls from height are the most common causes of serious accidents, often fatal, in European Union. As human life is the most important value, there is a great need of elevating H&S level. This problem has been raised in European Directive 2001/45/EC, which obliges to take appropriate measures to improve safety and health at work.

The project titled: ARFAT - The Augmented Reality Formwork Assembly Training address H&S issues as it stems from the need of prevention of accidents on construction sites. These accidents are mainly caused by falling from height, especially from scaffoldings. Works at heights (i.e. formworks, scaffolding works) are one of the most dangerous among construction works. One of the main reasons is: because current training methods are insufficient. As the research shows, workers are not interested in classic trainings. Use of mobile devices (smartphones, tablets), modern AR technology and supporting media files make ARFAT training much more interesting and unforgettable. The need for the projects was also confirmed by the questionnaires and previous project (ARCW – Health and safety procedures for curtain walls with the use of Augmented Reality Technology). Both construction employees and employers stated that there is a great need for construction trainings with the use of AR.

The following organizations are involved in the project: Warsaw University of Technology (Poland) (Project’s Promoter), Polish Association of Building Managers (Poland), Technische Universitat Darmstadt (Germany), Fundacion Laboral de la Construccion (Spain), Universitat de Valencia (Spain), PERI Polska Sp. z o.o. (Poland).

In the ARFAT project, training system is being created together with paper manual, application for mobile devices and supporting media files. Training will be open for all interested parties, it will use innovative methods that suit in the best way modern, digital era.
The article focuses on the outputs of the project and its importance for the modern society.

Keywords:

Augmented reality, formworks, scaffoldings, H&S, Safety.