BIM4OSH Observatory: Central repository to monitor the status of BIM implementation for OSH – purposed architecture

Key Technological Developments (KTDs), in recent years, have led to a step change in dealing with Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) risk management. Building Information Modelling (BIM), part of a wider trend of applying digital technology in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operation (AECO) sector, has the potential to optimize the management of risks and costs of accidents at work and occupational diseases. Understanding the way OSH management can be improved using BIM is important as new processes and standards need to be created and existing procedures adapted. Currently there is no centralized sharing mechanism where countries, companies or projects can share lessons learned to help their implementation. Furthermore, there is no formal mechanism to observe and monitor trends and dynamics in the use of BIM for OSH at National, European or industry levels. Digital4OSH is a research group comprised of multidisciplinary academics and industry partners whose aim is to encourage the use of KTDs to improve OSH outcomes. Following a pilot study carried in a complex infrastructure megaproject in UK, this group proposes the development of an Observatory to overcome these gaps. The Observatory would be built on a web-based platform that can be used to obtain statistical longitudinal OSH data and provide information about the progress of national and European implementation of BIM for OSH (through dashboards); to capture, centralize and share (through factsheets) lessons learned from previous projects; to create a repository of technical and scientific information.