Dobrucali, E; Demirkesen, S; Sadikoglu, E; Zhang, C and Damci, A (2024) Investigating the impact of emerging technologies on construction safety performance. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 31(3), pp. 1322-1347. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: Construction safety is heavily affected by using new technologies in this growing trend of technology adoption. Especially, safety performance is enhanced through the utilization of some effective technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, BIM and wearable devices. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of emerging technologies on construction safety performance and quantify the relationship between those. The proposed components of emerging technologies are BIM, GIS, VR, RFID, AI, ML, eye tracking and serious games and wearable devices, whereas the dimensions of construction safety performance are safety planning, safety training, safety inspection and monitoring, safety audits and reviews and safety leadership. Design/methodology/approach: A structural model was composed consisting of emerging technologies and safety performance indicators. Then, a questionnaire was designed and administered to construction professionals, and data from 167 projects were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The data were analyzed by using software, called SPSS AMOS. Findings: The analysis of the structural model proves that there is a positive and significant relationship between emerging technologies and construction safety performance. Moreover, the factor loadings for each factor were found to be high indicating a good representation of the construct by the components developed. Among the technologies, BIM, robotics and automation, AI and wearable devices were detected to be the most significant technologies in terms of impacting safety performance. Originality/value: The study contributes to the body of knowledge in that it develops a conceptual framework consisting of specific technologies in terms of emerging technologies, reveals the impact of such technologies on safety performance and proposes several tools and strategies for enabling effective safety management along the project lifecycle. Industry practitioners may benefit from the framework developed by adopting such technologies to enhance their safety performance on construction projects.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction industry; emerging technologies; safety; safety performance |
| Index terms: | artificial intelligence, technology adoption, safety training, construction industry, automation, dimension, loading, robotics, virtual reality, construction professional, emerging technology, safety inspection, monitoring, project lifecycle, wearable device, new technology, safety performance, body of knowledge, safety management, construction safety, conceptual framework, practitioner, questionnaire, methodology, construction project, safety audit, strategy, structural equation modelling, safety leadership |
| Subjects: | environmental health, quality assurance, statistical analysis, industry analysis, occupational health and safety management, professional development, automation and robotics, production management, health safety and environment, research methods, theoretical framing, management, health monitoring assessment and metrics, innovation and technology management, artificial intelligence, knowledge management, construction operations, digital technology, practitioner, control systems, project completion, virtual reality, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Research Practice, Project Management, Site Management, Digital Applications, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here