A Scientometric Exploration of Physical Fatigue and Risk Management in Construction

Continued exposure to physically demanding construction tasks lead workers to physical fatigue, which is a key contributor in increasing workplace injuries, accidents, reduced productivity, and declined work quality. Consequently, the monitoring and early detection of physical fatigue during strenuous work is crucial in mitigating these risks. While several previous studies have investigated methods for physical fatigue evaluation, a comprehensive exploration of physical fatigue assessment strategies in the construction industry remains critical. Such exploration should particularly address the mitigation of ergonomic risks, alongside examining the bibliometric relationship within the literature and the influence of research themes in this domain. Therefore, the study conducted a scientometric analysis on bibliometric data concerning physical fatigue assessment research spanning from 1999 to 2023, focusing of the publication trends, co-occurrence of keywords, co-authorships, and bibliometric coupling analyses. The study initially collected 132 articles from Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases using keyword search. Following duplicate removing, 88 papers were selected for visualization of map analysis. Findings revealed an escalation in research activities related to physical fatigue assessment within the construction industry over the past four years. Major contributors to this research stem were the United States, Hong Kong, and China, and predominant areas of focus included occupational safety and health, and risk assessment utilizing wearable sensors. This study contributes to the current body of knowledge on construction workers' safety and productivity by providing an extensive understanding of the key research themes, trends, and pattern in physical fatigue assessment.