John, G A (2000) A virtual environment for safety-integrated site layout design and organisation. PhD thesis, Teesside University, UK.
Abstract
This research project describes a site layout design environment that has been constructed to enhance site manager's ability to design and organise the construction site with safety as the main objective. The present site layout design and organisation methods do not adequately address construction site safety during the site layout process. There are also limitations to the systems, methods and practices presently used in addressing construction site safety. The research effort involves two major activities: (a) the compilation of a knowledge base from review of published literature on site layout design, review of safety manuals, and elicitation of expert knowledge from construction practitioners; (b) the development of a virtual environment, for site layout design and organisation. The VR environment offers the unique opportunity to visualise the safety implications of different site layout configurations. The prototype system (SAFESITE) developed is applicable to both new site layout designs, as well as evaluating the safety implications of existing site layouts. SAFESITE have an interface that allows a step by step interactive construction of the site layout plan. One of the most significant aspects of the technology is its ability to improve decision making on site layout design and organisational issues. The advantage of the system is that it automatically checks the layout configuration of the temporary facility, as and when it is positioned or relocated within the site. Thus the site layout planner gets familiar with SAFESITE quickly and can generate different 'what-if scenarios within a relative short time. The research concludes that the system demonstrates a proactive approach towards construction risks reduction and also a new way of visualising and solving construction site layout problems.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction site; decision making; safety; site layout; site manager |
| Index terms: | decision-making, configuration, prototype, construction site, construction practitioner, knowledge base, virtual environment, site layout, organizational issue, site manager, planner |
| Subjects: | practitioner, site logistics, profession, virtual reality, business, modelling and simulation, work location, professional development, systems engineering, information systems, decision analysis |
| Topics: | Site Management, Organizational Design, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Information Management, Risk Management, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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