Industry Views on BIM for Site Safety in Hong Kong

Abstract

The construction industry continues to be a high-risk industry in comparison to others. It is imperative therefore that the industry should continue to seek ways to improve its safety performance. Technological developments and in particular building information modelling is seen to be a promising catalyst for improving safety outcomes in the construction industry. The discussion in this chapter focuses on the perception of professionals in the Hong Kong construction industry of the application of BIM for site safety. Given that sizable capital projects in Hong Kong are now using BIM and site safety continues to be a concern for the local construction stakeholders, it is timely to explore their perceptions of the use of BIM for construction safety. The findings show that there is strong support for using BIM to improve safety outcomes. Participants saw potential use in planning, visualization, and communication as the main reasons for supporting BIM for safety. Issues such as data accuracy, BIM competence, and resource implications were raised as some of the concerns with BIM for safety.