Building Information Modelling (BIM) to Enhance Occupational Safety in Construction Activities: Research Trends Emerging from One Decade of Studies

Abstract

In recent years, the use of new technologies is rapidly transforming the way working activities are managed and carried out. In the construction industry, in particular, the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) is ever increasing as a means to improve the performances of numerous activities. In such a context, several studies have proposed BIM as a key process to augment occupational safety effectively, considering that the construction industry still remains one of the most hazardous working sectors. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the recent research addressing the use of BIM to improve construction safety. A systematic review was performed considering journal papers that appeared in literature in the last decade. The results showed that the most viable and promising research directions concern knowledge-based solutions, design for safety improvement through BIM solutions, transversal applications of BIM, and dynamic visualization and feedback. The findings of this study also indicated that more practical BIM applications are needed, especially focusing on safety training and education, the use of BIM to augment safety climate and resilience, and the development of quantitative risk analysis to better support safety management. Overall, the study provided a comprehensive research synthesis augmenting knowledge on the role of BIM-based tools in construction safety, which can be considered a reference framework to enhance workers’ safety by means of these new technologies.