Qualitative interview study reveals automation reduces physical hazards and injuries in port operations, highlighting significant economic and infrastructural implementation barriers.
Key Points
Examine how automation technologies influence occupational safety and health conditions in port operations and identify the critical challenges that hinder adoption.
Conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of 12 occupational safety and health and automation experts in Sri Lanka.
Analyzed interview transcripts using thematic qualitative content analysis to identify operational risk patterns, safety outcomes, and technological adoption barriers.
Key implementation barriers include substantial capital and economic costs, inadequate technical infrastructure, and entrenched organizational resistance to technological change.