Working under the Shadow of Drones: Investigating Occupational Safety Hazards among Commercial Drone Pilots.

TECHNICAL ABSTRACTBackground: Commercial drones are rapidly transforming business operations, however there is a paucity of research evaluating occupational hazards and risks associated with drone deployment in the workplace.Purpose: We aimed to identify challenges of human-drone collaborations and assess drone pilot perceptions of workplace safety.Methods: An online questionnaire was generated and sent to 308 drone pilots working in different industries. A total of 75 of responses were included for data analysis. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and association rule mining were employed to extract knowledge from the obtained data.Results: Our results indicate that human factors are the main contributors to workplace drone mishaps. Poor communication, information display, and control modes were found to be chief obstacles to effective human-drone collaboration. Drone pilots indicated a propensity for complying with and participating in safety practices. Following safety procedures, receiving technical training, and flying outdoors may all be associated with a lower risk of drone mishaps.Conclusions: Offering professional training to pilots and following safety procedures could decrease the risks associated with occupational drones.