Role of visualization technologies in safety planning and management at construction jobsites

摘要

Workplace safety is significant to the construction industry throughout the world. Despite rigorous efforts of safety professionals and strong governmental enforcement of safety laws and regulations, there has not been a significant decline in fatalities, injuries and illnesses in the construction industry. Extensive research on this topic has indicated that the dynamic nature of the construction industry is one of the main reasons. Each construction project is unique and identifying all possible hazards and safety risks is always challenging. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the use of visualization technologies in different phases of the construction project life cycle. Visualization technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), 4D simulations, and 3D Immersive Virtual Reality Environments can result in improved occupational safety by allowing architects, engineers, and contractors to visually assess jobsite conditions and recognize possible hazards before the construction proceeds. This paper presents three case studies that investigated the effectiveness of above-mentioned visualization technologies in developing, communicating and implementing construction site safety plans. The case studies results indicated that 3D/4D dynamic tools are more effective in safety planning and management as compared to the 2D static drawings because they closely simulate the actual jobsite conditions. In addition, the visualization technologies are found to be very effective in construction safety education and training in both formal and informal settings.