Forsythe, P (2014) Proactive construction safety systems and the human factor. Proceedings of Institution of Civil Engineers: Management, Procurement and Law, 167(5), pp. 242-252. ISSN 17514304
Abstract
The paper undertakes an extensive and critical review of published works concerning the state of the art in safety systems based on building information modelling (BIM). It finds that despite considerable developmental work, much of the focus has been on the design and planning stages of projects. A gap still exists during the construction stage due to the unexpected dynamics that occur on site and the way that responsive human behaviour is not always predictable or rational. Modern proactive safety systems offer advanced real-time tracking of workers on site, which can be concurrently mapped onto a BIM model of the progressive construction. Such technology aims to provide realtime audio warnings to individual workers if they wander too close to hazards. However, the review raises new and under-explored challenges concerning the human factor - especially the way workers interact with such technology. Evidence from other industries suggests that possible areas of concern include mistrust in warnings, ignoring warnings, over-reliance on technology and 'the boy who cried wolf' syndrome. Poor ergonomic design may lead to the technology being under-utilised. An ongoing agenda for behavioural testing is recommended to assist further development.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | information technology; safety & hazards |
| Index terms: | evidence, state of the art, information technology, human factor, construction safety, human behaviour, dynamics, testing, building information modelling, real-time tracking |
| Subjects: | research dissemination and communication, evaluation and assessment methods, health behaviours and lifestyles, professional practice, computing systems, occupational health and safety management, data management, systems engineering, environmental health, information systems |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Research Practice, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
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