Use of drone (UAV) as a tool for work safety inspection for roofing activities in civil construction: a systematic review

Falls from heights represent one of the most frequent accidents in civil constructions, mainly caused by different roofing activities. The risks should be first evaluated by conducting safety inspections, and then implementing adequate control measures to eliminate or reduce the risks of accidents. New technologies facilitate those inspections and make the processes much more efficient. The objective of this study was to make a systematic review to analyse works which used a drone as a visual tool for such safety inspection activities, systematize main information needed to consider in developing future drone research in civil construction. Methodology: The research was carried out on the Brazilian platform for scientific journals and conferences called “CAPES Portal” through the Preferred Report for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyzes (PRISMA) methodology. Several keywords were used for searching, including: "Construction", "Construction Safety", "Safety Inspection", "Safety Management", "Drone", "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles". Results and Discussion: In total, 102 articles were identified through the searching. After applying all the inclusion and exclusion criteria (published in the last 10 years, published in English or Portuguese language), In addition, the articles were included only if related to the use of drones in civil construction and if had some relationship with work safety inspection. A total number of 15 articles fulfilled the selection criteria’s and were included in this review. The information about the analysed studies included information such as author/reference, the objective of the study, the country where the study was conducted, the activities which were analysed, conclusions, limitations and the type of the drone which was used in the research. In total, 8 of the 15 studies were developed in the United States, representing 53% of the total, while other studies are from Germany (4), Brazil (2), Australia (1) and Spain (1). Most studies analysed the inspection of bridges and roofs. Conclusions: Studies have shown that there is evidence of the advantages of using drones to assist in safety inspections in civil construction, especially in bridges and roofs.