Kumi, L; Jeong, J; Jeong, J and Mun, H (2025) Development of multimodal recommender system for advancing design for safety with expert validation. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 151(9): 04025114, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Construction projects often struggle to integrate safety considerations effectively and identify hazards comprehensively during the design phase. Design for Safety (DfS) is a promising approach to embedding safety into the design phase, but traditional DfS practices are often subjective, time-consuming, and limited by human error. These challenges result in inconsistent safety outcomes and hinder the adoption of DfS in real-world projects. This study addresses these limitations by developing a novel multimodal recommender system that combines textual and image data to provide tailored DfS recommendations. By employing cosine similarity for feature analysis, the system integrates user input to generate relevant and actionable safety suggestions. User interaction is facilitated through a user-friendly web application, which enables construction professionals to access and apply recommendations efficiently. The system was evaluated by industry experts, achieving an average normalized discounted cumulative gain (NDCG) score of 0.63, demonstrating its strong alignment with expert relevance assessments. Additionally, the system revealed notable strengths, including ease of use (3.37/5), intuitiveness (3.40/5), and relevance of recommendations (3.73/5). Correlation analysis identified strong links between these factors and overall user satisfaction. This study introduces a cutting-edge approach that bridges the gap between theoretical DfS principles and their practical application, contributing to streamlined workflows, enhanced safety outcomes, and empowered decision making for construction professionals.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction safety; cosine similarity; design for safety; natural language processing; recommender systems |
| Index terms: | workflow, construction safety, validation, user satisfaction, construction project, design for safety, decision-making, interaction, design phase, construction professional, correlation analysis |
| Subjects: | professional development, management, statistical analysis, environmental health, decision analysis, health safety and environment, production management, behavioral psychology, client relations, professional practice |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Project Management, Stakeholder Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Information Management, Design Practice |
| 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