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Short abstract:

Semi-automated cranes aim to enhance precision and safety of construction work. Our paper examines various assumptions about safety from the perspective of technology developers and crane operators, shedding light on the "new" control constellations of cyber-physical construction sites.

Long abstract:

Crane operations on construction sites are regarded as demanding precision work where accidents often result in property damage and personal injury. In accident investigations, there is a tendency to attribute human error as the primary cause. Recently, assistance systems for semi-automated cranes promise to support crane-operator interaction to enhance precision, efficiency and safety.

It questions how automation can contribute to safety in complex, sociotechnical construction sites (Lingard et al. 2012). Previous research has shown that safety is a necessary but insufficient condition for preventing accidents in human-technology interactions (Nordqvist/Lindblom 2018). There is an ongoing debate surrounding the trade-off between safety issues and decision-making autonomy, particularly in the context of uncertain work processes (Grote 2020.) What are the arrangements for construction site safety, and how is decision-making distributed among heterogenous entities?

This paper presents different understandings of safety within cyber-physical construction sites and the prerequisites for responsible interaction between crane operators, semi-automated cranes, and construction sites. We investigate the concept of 'hybrid control' within human-technology relations and the ways the autonomy of operators is co-constructed within organizational work situations (Suchman 1998; Grote 2018; Kropp 2021).

Based on interviews with crane operators and developers of crane assistance systems, the paper identifies a conflict of objectives between technically introduced safety measures and the challenging task of ensuring safety under the complex conditions of construction sites and their sociotechnical organization (Latour 1994). The importance of workarounds and the underestimation of relational control constellations are emphasized.