SHEQ
A digital safety revolution The world is undergoing a digital revolution, and this technology can be adapted to enhance health and safety on construction sites.
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he construction sector contributed 12% to the country’s GDP in the last financial year, but the sector had at least 1.5 to 2.5 fatalities per week. According to Lennie Samuel, a senior inspector and forensic investigator at the Department of Labour, despite South Africa’s health and safety regulations being of a high standard, they have not had the desired effect as fatalities and injuries continue in the construction sector. Human error, whether it be limited expertise or oversight of engineers or safety personnel, can increase the risk of hazards during construction projects. However, this can be offset if a safety-by-design approach is implemented. This calls for safety to be determined during the design stage and for designers to ‘design out’ health and safety risks.
Building Information Modelling Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been around for decades, but it has seen a huge uptake in interest in recent years. BIM software provides a digital description of every aspect of the built asset; namely a process for creating and managing information on a construction project across the project life cycle. Unlike computer-assisted design (CAD) software, BIM represents and manages graphics and information. This information allows for the automatic generation of drawings and reports, design analysis, schedule simulation, facilities management, and more. This ultimately enables the team to make better-informed decisions, thereby changing the way safety can be approached. The most effective safety programme starts at the planning and pre-construction stage. BIM allows for early hazard identification, meaning preventative measures can be implemented through design components to reduce high-risk tasks. The BIM software also enables a virtual information model, which can be passed from the design team to the contractors and operators to reduce information losses. By sharing and coordinating information among the project team, BIM allows those involved to consider and think about hazards and risks earlier in the process. Furthermore, BIM facilitates the 3D simulation of the building and components, which can prove particularly useful for site safety.
SA lagging behind Despite the numerous benefits BIM offers, the 2016 South African BIM Survey Report shows that there is very little uptake within South Africa. IMIESA May 2017
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The global interest in BIM within the construction industry has boomed over the past five years, particularly in countries such as the UK, Canada and China. However, according to the report, international software vendors have shown very little interest in South Africa. But, as BIM begins to change the life cycle of construction projects, from procurement to design to scheduling, cost control, and future asset management, many predict its impacts will be more profound than the move from manual drafting to CAD more than 20 years ago.