BIM enabled Automatic Safety Checking

With developments in Industry 4.0, we are witnessing a global drive towards digital transformation. There is a growing momentum to adopt technology-assisted tools to support existing processes. Even though most construction processes are now computerised, safety procedures have not yet fully embraced the digital revolution. Current safety practices in India are deemed to be inefficient, as the rate of onsite accidents is still on the increase. It includes paper-based checking, manual observations, which is labor-intensive, prone to error, and frequently highly ineffective. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is one of the remarkable innovations in the construction industry. BIM with its potential benefits could provide effective site safety practice and help to overcome the challenges associated with conventional safety practices. This study has developed a working prototype that enables early identification of hazards by developing BIM enabled automatic safety checking model. The prototype equips designers with safety-conscious knowledge, and it has been conditioned to undertake checks that are driven by algorithms that input OSHA rules and codifies knowledge of safety experts to identify the hazards from designs. It also includes the report of required corrective actions and its scheduling in a virtual environment. Through the automatic safety checking process, the accidents can be minimized by considering them at design stage. The knowledge which usually takes place at construction stage is brought forward at the preconstruction stage.

Presented at Engineering Doctoral Researcher Conference, Loughborough, 5-6 September 2023.