Development of BIM-Based Risk Rating Estimation Automation and a Design-for-Safety Review System

Analysis of prevention through design studies in construction: A subject review

INTRODUCTION

The concept of addressing and minimizing construction site safety risks in the early phase of a project has generated research interest, especially since the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) launched its national Prevention through Design (PtD) initiative in July 2007. In the last decade, several studies on PtD with differeing goals and methods have been published in construction journals. To date, few systematic examinations of the development and trends associated with PtD research have been conducted in the discipline.

METHOD

This paper presents a study of the latest PtD research trends in construction safety management through analysis of publications in prominent construction journals from 2008 to 2020. Both descriptive and content analyses were conducted based on the number of papers published annually and clusters of topics covered in the papers.

RESULTS

The study shows an increasing interest in PtD research in recent years. Research topics covered mainly focus on the perspectives of PtD stakeholders, PtD resources/tools/procedures, and technology applications to facilitate PtD implementation in practice. This review study provides an improved understanding of the state-of-the-art of PtD research in terms of accomplishments and research gaps. The study also compares the findings from journal articles with industry best practices related to PtD to guide future research in this domain.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

This review study is of significant value to researchers to overcome the limitations of the current PtD studies, and to extend the scope of PtD research, and can be used by industry professionals when considering and selecting appropriate PtD resources/tools in practice.

Proposal for the Integration of the Assessment and Management of Electrical Risk from Overhead Power Lines in BIM for Road Projects

Electrical risk has a particular impact within the construction sector. This leads to the development of regulations to mitigate it, but correct application of regulations is impossible with a traditional 2D analysis. The construction sector is using technologies from the industrial sector (Construction 4.0), with BIM as the main enabling technology. Thus, the objective of this article is the evaluation of the risk produced by Overhead Power Lines (OPL) through BIM integration. The OPL, its risk zones, the affected road, and the envelope resulting from the geometry of the necessary machines to build it were digitized, converging in a single model to perform a 4D risk analysis. The risks of the execution of the embankment and road surface of a road section passing through an OPL were analyzed by means of the collision of the envelope with its risk zones, resulting in an integration of their evaluation, to which was added the introduction of preventive measures and their re-evaluation. The parametric 3D modelling allowed a better definition of the risk zones and the BIM management minimized errors, providing traceability of decisions from the design phase, complying with health and safety regulations and applying the principle of Prevention through Design (PtD).

Safety Built Right in: Exploring the Occupational Health and Safety Potential of BIM-Based Platforms throughout the Building Lifecycle

This article investigates the opportunities of using digital building platforms based on Building Information Modelling (BIM) to increase occupational health and safety (OHS) in building design, construction, operation and deconstruction. The data collection followed a mixed-method approach with a systematic mapping review and focus group discussions with industry practitioners from the Swedish construction and real estate industry. Use cases were identified from both venues, as were prevailing barriers, potential facilitators, best practices and future applications. The findings highlight OHS potentials of digital building platforms for Rule-Based Checking and Design Validation, Team Building and Communication, Site Layout and Task Planning, Real-Time Monitoring, Equipment and Temporary Structures, Robotic Task Performance and Learning and Documentation. A set of principles is proposed to promote a higher degree of lifecycle and stakeholder integration: (1) technology, (2) data and information, (3) business and organization, (4) people and communication and (5) industry structure and governance aspects.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Building Information Modeling in Developing Green Buildings from a Lifecycle Perspective

Building information modeling (BIM) is an emerging technique in the construction industry. It is regarded as an effective approach for green building development; however, its effectiveness has not been sufficiently investigated from a lifecycle perspective. To bridge this research gap, this study investigates BIM application value in different phases of a green building through a convolutional neural network (CNN) method. To begin with, an assessment framework was developed with the consideration of balancing the estimation accuracy and the data size. Then, the validity of the developed model was verified from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Finally, the effectiveness of BIM was tested using the proposed framework. Results showed that the overall score of the tested project was four in the five-point Likert scale, with an average relative error less than 1%. From a value-based perspective, it is revealed that the application value of BIM represented a descending order throughout the lifecycle of the tested project. In addition, it is found that the functional value obtained the highest score, whereas social value was at the bottom. The findings of this study can help decision makers to detect the weaknesses of BIM implementation during green building development.

Improvements of Design for Safety in Construction through Multi-Participants Perception Analysis

For several decades, the number of reported accidents and fatal incidents in the construction industry has remained high compared to those in other industries. Therefore, many studies have been conducted in an effort to reduce accidents and fatal incidents in the construction industry. Recently, construction safety management has shifted from the construction phase to the pre-construction phase, ultimately to eliminate fatal incidents. In line with this change, South Korea enacted the Design for Safety (DfS) process in 2016. However, the current DfS process remains not well implemented for several reasons. Therefore, this study aims to present eight alternatives to improve the DfS process and suggests DfS improvement priorities by considering construction project participants and career levels using what is known as a fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process (F-AHP) analysis. The results of this study are as follows. First, respondents overall suggested improvements in the area of ‘assignment of responsibility for DfS to the client’ (0.196). Second, improvement priorities were also identified according to construction project participants and career levels. The results of the study can be utilized as basic information for DfS improvements during construction projects.