Safety Science 97 (2017) 8898

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Safety Science
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ssci

Special Issue Article: Risk and land-use

A review of risk management through BIM and BIM-related technologies

Yang Zou a,, Arto Kiviniemi b, Stephen W. Jones a
a
School of Engineering, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 3GH, UK
b
School of Architecture, University of Liverpool, Leverhulme Building, Liverpool L69 7ZN, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Risk management in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) industry is a global issue.
Received 28 April 2015 Failure to adequately manage risks may not only lead to difficulties in meeting project objectives but also
Received in revised form 15 December 2015 influence land-use planning and urban spatial design in the future growth of cities. Due to the rapid
Accepted 31 December 2015
development and adoption of BIM (Building Information Modelling) and BIM-related digital technologies,
Available online 23 January 2016
the use of these technologies for risk management has become a growing research trend leading to a
demand for a thorough review of the state-of-the-art of these developments. This paper presents a sum-
Keywords:
mary of traditional risk management, and a comprehensive and extensive review of published literature
BIM (Building Information Modelling)
Digital technology
concerning the latest efforts of managing risk using technologies, such as BIM, automatic rule checking,
Risk management knowledge based systems, reactive and proactive IT (information technology)-based safety systems. The
BIM-based risk management findings show that BIM could not only be utilised to support the project development process as a sys-
Construction safety tematic risk management tool, but it could also serve as a core data generator and platform to allow other
BIM-based tools to perform further risk analysis. Most of the current efforts have concentrated on inves-
tigating technical developments, and the management of construction personnel safety has been the
main interest so far. Because of existing technical limitations and the lack of human factor testing,
BIM-based risk management has not been commonly used in real environments. In order to overcome
this gap, future research is proposed that should: (1) have a multi-disciplinary system-thinking, (2) inves-
tigate implementation methods and processes, (3) integrate traditional risk management with new tech-
nologies, and (4) support the development process.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction the construction schedule, which are caused by various reasons

such as design deficiency, material failure, inexperienced opera-
The AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) industry tives, and weak management. For instance, in the United States,
has witnessed a rapid development all around the world, especially 503 bridge collapses were reported between 1989 and 2000
in developing countries, during the last few decades large-scale (Wardhana and Hadipriono, 2003), and according to official
projects have become widespread and international, new project records over 26,000 workers lost their lives on construction sites
delivery methodologies are being adopted, design theory and tools from 1989 to 2013 (Zhang et al., 2013). It was estimated that over
are constantly improving, creative and new approaches, methods, 60,000 on-site fatal accidents happen every year globally (ILO,
and materials of construction are being introduced (Bryde et al., 2005). In China, though the number of construction supervision
2013). AEC projects such as buildings, infrastructure systems and companies has increased from 52 in 1989 to 5123 in 2000 (Liu
plants are part of the scope of urban spatial planning and design, et al., 2004), unwanted hazards related to safety, time, and cost
and have an immediate impact on and a direct relation to the were observed frequently due to poor risk management (Tam
accommodation of land use for the future growth of cities et al., 2004).
(Colding, 2007). However, high accident rates and hazardous activ- An AEC project starts with planning and design followed by the
ities in the AEC industry not only lead to a poor reputation but pose construction stage lasting for months or years, and eventually the
a threat to its future innovation and evolution. The scope of a risk is project will come into the operation period that may last for dec-
very broad and consists of issues such as damage or failure of ades before demolition. Different risks may be present in each of
structures, injury or loss of life, budget overruns, and delays to the different stages of the project and product lifecycle. There are
a wide range of risks that may lead to hazards. In recent years, with
Corresponding author. the rapid development of society, risks are gradually growing
E-mail address: Yang.Zou@liverpool.ac.uk (Y. Zou). because of the increasing structural complexity and project size,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.12.027
0925-7535/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 Y. Zou et al. / Safety Science 97 (2017) 8898 89

and the adoption of new and complex construction methods (Shim were applied to a web search in online academic publication data-
et al., 2012). To reduce the possibility of these hazards occurring bases, i.e. Web of Science, Engineering Village, Scopus, and
and to achieve project goals successfully, there is a high demand Google Scholar, for collecting academic and applied publications
for managing risks effectively throughout a projects life cycle. related to this topic. Then the state-of-the-art of these technologies
However, the implementation of traditional risk management is is classified and surveyed as follows: (1) BIM, (2) automatic rule
still a manual undertaking, and the assessment is heavily reliant checking, (3) knowledge based systems, (4) reactive IT-based
on experience and mathematical analysis, and decision making is safety systems (i.e. database technology, VR, 4D CAD, GIS), and
frequently based on knowledge and experience based intuition, (5) proactive IT-based safety systems (e.g. GPS, RFID, laser scan-
which leads to decreased efficiency in the real environment ning). The scope of the survey includes articles in leading journals
(Shim et al., 2012). In response to these problems, there is cur- of this area (e.g. Safety Science, Automation in Construction, Interna-
rently a new research trend of utilising Building Information Mod- tional Journal of Project Management, Journal of Computing in Civil
elling (BIM) and BIM-related tools to assist in early risk Engineering, Information Technology in Construction, Reliability Engi-
identification, accident prevention, risk communication, etc., neering & System Safety), publications from conference proceedings
which is defined as BIM-based risk management in this paper. and other sources of professional associations, standard commit-
The paper conducts a critical and extensive review on these new tees (e.g. HSE, ISO) and authorities. In the third step, all publica-
developments. It firstly presents an overview of the fundamentals, tions are analysed critically and compared with the traditional
process, and challenges of the traditional risk management. This risk management methods to identify current obstacles and future
paper further moves on to discuss the state-of-the-art of the use work to close these gaps.
of BIM and BIM-related technologies for risk management and out-
lines the existing challenges and gaps that slow down or prevent
its broad adoption. The last part of the paper discusses combining 3. Background
traditional methods with new technologies and identifies research
areas where additional research is needed in the future. 3.1. The fundamentals of risk management

The term risk was known in the English language from the
2. Research approach
17th century and was derived from an original meaning to run into
danger or to go against a rock (McElwee, 2007). Today the concept
2.1. Motivation and aim
of risk is adopted in many different fields and with a variety of dif-
ferent words, such as hazard, threat, challenge, or uncer-
The literature includes numerous studies describing the devel-
tainty. In the AEC industry, risks have a two-edged nature, e.g.
opment of BIM and BIM-related technologies for managing particu-
the likelihood of unwanted hazards and the corresponding conse-
lar risks (Chen and Luo, 2014; Hadikusumo and Rowlinson, 2004;
quences (Zou et al., 2007), the likelihood and consequence of risks
Zhang and Hu, 2011; Zhang et al., 2013). Nearly all reviews
(Williams, 1996), a combination of the likelihood and consequences
(Bryde et al., 2013; Eastman et al., 2009; Forsythe, 2014;
of the hazard (Vrouwenvelder et al., 2001).
Hartmann et al., 2008; Zhou et al., 2012) partially summarise the
Risk management is a system aiming to recognise, quantify, and
application area, development and shortcomings of applying these
manage all risks exposed in the business or project (Flanagan and
technologies, and cover only one or several aspects separately.
Norman, 1993). PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowl-
Many papers (Ahmed et al., 2007; Jannadi and Almishari, 2003;
edge) describes it as a process in relation to planning, identifying,
Vrouwenvelder et al., 2001; Zou et al., 2007) concentrate on review-
analysing, responding, and monitoring project risks and one of
ing traditional risk management methods and other publications
the ten knowledge areas in which a project manager must be com-
(Azhar, 2011; Eastman et al., 2011; Tomek and Matejka, 2014)
petent (PMI, 2004). The International Organization for Standard-
partially summarise the benefits and risks of implementing BIM
ization (ISO, 2009) defines the process of risk management
in projects. However, to the authors knowledge there is no compre-
involving applying a systemic and logical method for establishing
hensive overview of recent research on BIM-based risk manage-
the context, creating a communication and consultation mecha-
ment as a comprehensive whole and no studies focusing on the
nism, and constructing risk management identification, analysis,
relationship between digital technologies and the traditional meth-
evaluation, treatment, monitoring, and recording in a project. In
ods for managing risk. The aim of this review is to close this gap,
accordance with these definitions, risk management in the AEC
identify the obstacles of BIM-based risk management as well as
context is a logical, systematic, and comprehensive approach to
foster research interests for the future.
identifying and analysing risks, and treating them with the help
of communication and consultation to successfully achieve project
2.2. Methodology goals. The systematic process includes risk identification, analysis,
evaluation, treatment, monitoring and review (Banaitiene and
To review BIM-based risk management critically, a three-step Banaitis, 2012; ISO, 2009; Zou et al., 2007), where risk identifica-
approach was conducted. The topic of risks of implementing BIM tion aims to find out the range of potential risks and risk analysis
and papers that are not published in English are not within the plays a core role in the whole process. When risks cannot be elim-
scope of this review. inated, early and effective identification and assessment of risks
In the first step, the fundamentals, general process, and main become necessary for effective risk management in a successful
challenges of traditional risk management are summarised project (Zou et al., 2007). All activities of a project involve risks
through an extensive literature review and several expert inter- (ISO, 2009) and there is an immediate and direct relationship of
views for comprehensive understanding of the relation between objectives between the whole project and risk management.
the traditional methods and BIM-based risk management. The pro- A set of techniques has been developed to identify, analyse and
cess identifies a set of keywords for data collection as the basis for evaluate risks. The techniques, according to ISO (2009), can be
the next step. The main keywords are, for example, BIM, build- divided into qualitative and quantitative analysis. The former
ing information model, risk, risk assessment, risk analysis, includes Delphi, check lists, strengthweaknessopportunitythre
risk management, knowledge management, safety, quality, ats (SWOT) analysis, risk rating scales, etc., while the latter
time, cost, and budget. In the second step these keywords includes environmental risk assessment, neural networks (NN),
90 Y. Zou et al. / Safety Science 97 (2017) 8898

row tie analysis, reliability centred maintenance, risk indices, and However, some challenges in the above process are: (1) in-time
others. However, though the above methods are important tech- knowledge capture and analysis, (2) the management of multi-
niques for risk management, they are confined to static control disciplinary knowledge and experience, and (3) effective commu-
management and play only a limited role in practice (Zhang nication environment. Valuable knowledge and experience are
et al., 2014). The implementation of traditional risk management gained from previous projects and this can be used to contribute
is still a manual undertaking, the assessment is heavily reliant on to future work. In this case, the effective management of this large
experience and mathematical analysis, and the decision making database of human knowledge and experience, as well as flexible
is frequently based on knowledge and experience based intuition, and accurate data extraction, become a precondition for the suc-
which always leads to a decreased efficiency in the real environ- cess of risk management. As the project is handed over from
ment (Shim et al., 2012). designer to contractor, and then from contractor to the client, peo-
ple will normally leave the project after completing their tasks and
large amounts of risk information may be lost if it is not properly
recorded and communicated to other project participants (Kazi,
3.2. The general process of risk management 2005).

Based on a review of the literature, expert interviews, and the

authors own experience, the current general risk management 3.3. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for risk
framework used in the UK AEC industry is summarised in Fig. 1. management
The framework prescribes a long-term risk management strategy
and a process that allows participants to work collaboratively to To overcome these obstacles, ICT, e.g. BIM, 4D CAD, and Virtual
manage risks in a systematic way. The core philosophy of this Reality (VR), has been applied in the AEC industry to manage risks.
method, defined in the Risk Mitigation Model, is that the main For instance, construction safety risk planning and identification is
scope for identifying and mitigating risks should be as early as pos- an issue addressed by 3D/4D visualisation (Hartmann et al., 2008).
sible, especially in the design or planning phases, which is regu- BIM could help automatically detect physical spatial clashes (Chiu
lated in the UKs Construction Design and Management (CDM) et al., 2011) and specific requirements of building codes could be
Regulations 2007 (HSE, 2007). Ideally most of the foreseeable risks interpreted to machine-read rules and checked automatically in
should be designed out during the planning or design stages, and Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) information models (Eastman
the residual risks should be managed during the construction and et al., 2009). Li et al. (2013) presented a proactive monitoring sys-
subsequent phases. tem using Global Positioning System (GPS) in combination with

Fig. 1. General risk management framework.

 Y. Zou et al. / Safety Science 97 (2017) 8898 91

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to improve the safety of

Liu et al. (2014), Shim et al. (2012)

blind lifting of mobile/tower cranes. The next section will review

Chiu et al. (2011), Liu et al. (2014)

Chiu et al. (2011), Liu et al. (2014)

Motawa and Almarshad (2013)

and discuss these developments critically in detail.
Two reasons could explain the increasing interest and adop-
tion of ICT for risk management. The first reason is that as the

Hartmann et al. (2012)

industry has benefited from salient technical advantages of BIM
and other digital technologies, a natural consequent is to investi-

Lee et al. (2012a)

Liu et al. (2014)
gate their possibilities in risk management. These new techniques
could not only provide new design tools and management meth-

Practice
ods (Eastman et al., 2011) but significantly facilitate the collabo-
ration, communication, and cooperation for both within and

between organisations (Dossick and Neff, 2011), which are essen-
tial requirements for managing risks successfully. The second rea-

Dossick and Neff (2011), Grilo and Jardim-Goncalves (2010),

Kim et al. (2011), Lee et al. (2012a), Rajabifard et al. (2012)

son comes from a strong thrust from the government policy
makers who have realised the importance of integrating ICT with

Hardin (2011), Hartmann et al. (2008), Whyte (2002)

risk management. Evidence of this is the new version of CDM reg-
ulations that will cover ICT such as BIM after 2015 (Joyce and

Becerik-Gerber et al. (2011), Volk et al. (2014)

Houghton, 2014) replacing the older version that was introduced

Ji et al. (2013), Laakso and Kiviniemi (2012)

Marzouk and Hisham (2014), Whyte (2002)

Lee et al. (2012b), Sacks and Barak (2008),

in the UK initially in 1996 for improving safety and risk

Hartmann et al. (2008), Tang et al. (2011)

Bhatla et al. (2012), Eastman et al. (2011)

Hartmann et al. (2008), Kim et al. (2012)

Hardin (2011), Hartmann et al. (2008),
management.

4. Survey of BIM and BIM-related technologies for managing

Teizer (2008), Whyte (2002)

Azhar (2011), Hardin (2011)

Porwal and Hewage (2013)

risks

Hartmann et al. (2008)

Chen and Luo (2014)

The state-of-the-art of the use of BIM and BIM-related tech-

Shim et al. (2012)

nologies for risk management is summarised in this section. The
technologies referred here include BIM, automatic rule checking,
knowledge based systems, reactive and proactive safety systems
Research

based on information technology. There is a distinct difference

between reactive and proactive safety systems for risk manage-
ment. Forsythe (2014) and Teizer et al. (2010) pointed out reac-
tive systems using information technologies such as VR, 4D Improving management level for quality, safety, time, and budget

Integrating planning and design of urban space and AEC projects;

Planning, controlling and managing budget and cost reasonably

CAD, and GIS seldom use real-time data and need a post data col-
Facilitating early risk identification and risk communication;
Facilitating early risk identification and risk communication

Facilitating early risk identification and risk communication

lection processing effort for analysis, while in contrast proactive
technologies can collect and analyse real-time data, and provide

facilitating land-use planning, design and management

Improving the consideration of space distribution and

real-time warning and immediate feedback to construction site

Automation of detecting physical conflicts in model

about dangers in time. It has been found that BIM, on one hand,
Improving management level and reducing risks
can be used as a systematic risk management tool in the develop-

Reducing information loss of data exchange

improving construction management level

ment process and, on the other, can perform as a core data gener-
ator and platform to allow other BIM-related tools for further risk
analysis, where most of these technologies can be used interac-
Reducing personnel safety hazards

Reducing personnel safety hazards

tively in related investigations.

Improving construction quality
Benefits for risk management

Improving structural safety

4.1. Managing risks through BIM

management in design

Over the last few years, with the rapid development of theory
and computer applications, BIM has achieved a remarkable
Examples for applying or developing BIM for risk management.

awareness in the AEC industry and there is a significant increase

of the adoption of BIM to support the planning, design, construc-
tion, operation and maintenance phases (Volk et al., 2014).
Instead of being just considered as a technology, BIM is becoming
a systematic method and process that is changing the project
5D cost estimation or cash flow modelling

delivery (Porwal and Hewage, 2013), designing (Liu et al., 2014),

and the communication and organisational management of con-
4D construction scheduling/planning

Operation and maintenance (Q&M),

Collaboration and communication

struction (Hardin, 2011). Though most papers utilising BIM as

Construction progress tracking

an advanced tool to manage project risks such as design errors,

facility management (FM)

Urban planning and design

quality, and budget do not often refer to risk management inten-

tionally, the process of applying BIM can be seen, to some extent,
Risk scenario planning

as a systematic way for managing risks. Examples are presented

Safety management
Space management

Structural analysis

in Table 1.
3D visualisation

Interoperability
Clash detection

Quality control

facilitation
Functionality

In the planning and design stages, one of the main risks is how
the design aligns with the determined project feasibility, secured
budget, and established governance regime (Miller et al., 2001).
Table 1

This is an area where BIM has the potential to manage the risks.
For example, the visualisation of preliminary design by 3D/4D
92 Y. Zou et al. / Safety Science 97 (2017) 8898

models could help engineers build and modify the model quickly in Aiming at managing safety risks in design, Qi et al. (2011)
a parametric way to meet the stakeholders requirements developed a dictionary of construction worker suggestions and a
(Hartmann et al., 2008). The short videos or virtual walkthroughs constraint model to store the formalised suggestions. Then in the
which simulate the view of a person walking through the building BIM environment, designers could utilise rule checking software
can rapidly improve stakeholders understanding of the project for identifying safety risks during the planning and design phases,
(Whyte, 2002). Meanwhile, neutral data formats such as the IFC and mitigating risks and optimising their designs. The system con-
that store standard and customised data for all project elements sists of three parts: BIM as the main information input, a knowl-
could provide an interoperable digital representation of all project edge based system, and a risk identification module. Motamedi
elements enabling interoperability between BIM software applica- et al. (2014) integrated the use of knowledge management (KM)
tions (Laakso and Kiviniemi, 2012), which could increase the and BIM to investigate an approach for detecting failure root-
repeated use of data and reduce the possibility of errors. cause which could help facility management (FM) technicians
At the construction stage, there is often a huge pressure for the identify and solve problems from their cognitive and perceptual
construction team to complete the project safely within budget reasoning. Integrated with BIM, a Computerised Maintenance
and schedule, and various risks and uncertainties exist in this per- Management System (CMMS) was developed to store inspection
iod. To identify construction risks at an early stage and optimise and maintenance data. In addition, a knowledge based BIM system
the construction sequences, Chiu et al. (2011) conducted a clash was presented by Motawa and Almarshad (2013) to capture and
detection and a 4D simulation of the construction of a steel bridge. store various types of information and knowledge created by dif-
Chen and Luo (2014) extended the 4D model to cover quality man- ferent participants in the construction project in order to support
agement based on construction codes and established a quality decision making for building maintenance.
control model in a product, organisation and process (POP) data
definition structure, which was used and validated in the construc- 4.3. Automatic rule checking
tion of the Wuhan International EXPO centre. In addition, Marzouk
and Hisham (2014) used BIMs ability of cost estimation to develop In definition, the term Automatic Rule Checking is the use of a
an application that integrates BIM with Earned Value (EV) for cost computer program to assess a design based on objects configura-
and schedule control, and determines the project status at specific tion (Eastman et al., 2009) and its purpose is to encode rules and
reporting dates for infrastructure bridges. criteria by interpretation and thus building models could be
It has also been found in this review that though the majority of checked against these machine-read rules automatically with
efforts still focus on applying BIM to the design and construction results, for example, pass, fail, warning, or unknown
phase, BIM can also be used in other processes and phases, e.g. (Borrmann et al., 2009).
facility management (Becerik-Gerber et al., 2011), maintenance Regulations and rules written by experts have traditionally
management (Volk et al., 2014), and demolition (Cheng and Ma, been comprehended, interpreted and used in a manual way. Thus,
2013). In addition, a BIM-based collaboration and communication these rules are sometimes conflictive and incomplete, and the cor-
environment could naturally facilitate the early risk identification responding implementation is often limited by peoples under-
and mitigation (Dossick and Neff, 2011; Grilo and Jardim- standing, interpretation, and reasoning capability. To computerise
Goncalves, 2010). this process and improve the effectiveness, the research of auto-
matic code checking or rule compliance started in the 1960s. Soon
4.2. Knowledge based systems afterwards, a lot of effort was put into interpreting particular
requirements to computerised codes, logically structuring and
In the AEC industry, every project produces valuable knowledge managing rules, and developing rule-based systems (Fenves,
and experience which can contribute significantly to managing 1966; Fenves et al., 1995; Garrett and Fenves, 1987; Rasdorf and
risks in future projects. It is essential to manage this information Lakmazaheri, 1990). In the late 1990s, due to the fast growth
properly and communicate it effectively in all stages of the whole rule-based systems for building models, the development of IFCs
project lifecycle (Tah and Carr, 2001). This idea has been recog- brought on the initial exploration of building model schema for
nised and adopted for a long time by researchers to manage project checking building codes. This review has observed three develop-
risks. For example, Total-Safety (Carter and Smith, 2006) is a ment directions in the area of automatic rule checking during the
method statement development module within an ICT tool that last two decades (1) building design codes compliance, (2) con-
could assist engineers to formulate method statements with a high struction safety checking, and (3) special requirements checking,
level of risk identification by extracting safety information from a which will be discussed further in detail below. A comprehensive
knowledge based database. When a construction method is chosen, review, which introduced the main steps and software platforms
the tool can return all known risks associated with different tasks of automatic rule checking, was reported by Eastman et al. (2009).
as the knowledge basis for further risk assessment. Similarly, The most common application of rule checking is to ensure the
Cooke et al. (2008) proposed a web-based decision support pro- design work is compliant with numerous building codes which are
gram named ToolSHeD to integrate assessment of safety risk into normally known as the minimum standards for construction
design process. The principle of ToolSHeD is to structure the objects such as buildings and infrastructure projects. To comput-
knowledge obtained from industry standards, national guidelines erise this work, two major activities are needed to achieve this
and codes of Australia, and other information sources, and employ goal: (1) to formalise the building code and BIM into building rule
this knowledge for assessing risks in complicated situations of models and building design representation models respectively;
buildings. and (2) to implement both models in computer programs and exe-
The integration of BIM and knowledge based systems has been cute rule objects over design objects in compliance checking auto-
seen as a new trend. Deshpande et al. (2014) proposed a new matically (Yang and Xu, 2004). Substantial efforts in this area have
method to capture, extract, and store information and knowledge been made in recent years. For example, Delis and Delis (1995)
from BIMs, and presented a framework for classification and dis- proposed a method which could encode fire code requirements
semination of the knowledge. To strengthen its practical applica- in a knowledge based system for analysing the performance of fire
tion, Ho et al. (2013) developed a BIM-based Knowledge Sharing safety in the completed building design. Balachandran et al. (1991)
Management (BIMKSM) system that could enable managers and developed an approach to processing non-measurable code provi-
engineers to share knowledge and experience in the BIM environment. sions for verifying building designs automatically. Solihin (2004)
 Y. Zou et al. / Safety Science 97 (2017) 8898 93

developed the e-PlanCheck system by using the IFC model and a better insight of how to prevent hazards in the future. Yu (2009)
Express Data Manager (EDM) for assessing the code compliance developed a knowledge based decision support model on the basis
in Singapore. One of the latest efforts in this area is an on-going of knowledge representation and reasoning features to assist cli-
project in the US funded by Fiatech to develop AutoCodes expect- ents to evaluate competence of potential designers, principal con-
ing to improve automatic code checking capability for BIM stan- tractors, and CDM coordinators. Furthermore, to improve the
dards and guidelines, and US building model codes (Fiatech, 2013). performance and capability, an enhanced online database called
The second development direction is to check construction Construction Safety and Health Monitoring (CSHM) system was
safety rules. To prevent any human safety accidents on site, it is developed to enable remote access, speedy data collection and
essential to identify and mitigate these risks in design, and inspect, retrieval, and expert communication (Cheung et al., 2004).
monitor and manage safety in construction. Hence the design stage
is the best opportunity to mitigate most of these risks if potential 4.4.2. Virtual reality
hazards could be well identified and planned, and corresponding Virtual Reality (VR) is an important area in current BIM research
measures to control these risks can be chosen correctly (Bansal, and vice versa (Gu and London, 2010). Conceptually, VR is a virtual
2011). Yi and Langford (2006) collected and analysed historical system that consists of a computer capable of real-time animation,
safety records and proposed a theory that could estimate a pro- controlled through a group of equipment for simulating physical
jects risk distribution. Sulankivi et al. (2013) presented a theory presence in places in the real world (Steuer, 1992). VR has been
to identify safety risks which are unknowingly built into the con- used to provide a 3D, virtual and interactive computer environ-
struction activities at the design stage and developed a BIM- ment for training site workers to become aware of identified on-
based automatic safety rule-checking prototype. The approach site safety risks (e.g. (Guo et al., 2012)) and formalising strategies
works by simulating the construction sequences and tasks with and measures of potential hazards by simulating the dangerous
embedded safety rules. Aiming at fall protection, Zhang et al. scenarios (e.g. (Wang et al., 2014)). Specifically, Guo et al. (2012)
(2013) formalised the fall protection rules of the Occupational presented a game based interactive multi-client platform for safety
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other best practices training to improve construction site operation safety. Embedded
into a table-based safety rule translation algorithm, and imple- with identified hazards, the platform provides a virtual environ-
mented a rule-based checking system in BIM to plan and simulate ment where trainees can learn and practice operating methods
safety issues at an early stage. The feasibility has been shown by and construction sequences, which closely resemble the real work-
implementing this approach in Tekla Structures. ing on-site environment. The presented platform also encourages
The last application direction of development is for checking trainees to work collaboratively with others in operating the con-
specific requirements of buildings, such as the circulation prob- struction site. Though technological development looks extremely
lems, space requirements, and special site considerations. For important in VR for managing safety risks, how these developed
instance, Han et al. (2002) presented a hybrid method that used technologies could be adopted and implemented in practice
encoding prescriptive-based provisions and supplemented them becomes another concern. Therefore, after summarising the main
with a performance-based approach to facilitate conformance factors that may cause construction accidents, Guo et al. (2013)
and applicability analysis for accessibility. Lee (2010) developed proposed a conceptual framework to adopt Virtual Prototyping
a new approach to checking occupant circulation rules automati- (VP), consisting of three core components: (1) modelling and sim-
cally in the US Courts Design Guide, which could assist circulation ulation, (2) identification of unsafe factors, and (3) safety training,
rule checking in the development processes of a courthouses to support construction health and safety risk management for
design. Lee et al. (2010) proposed a computational approach called both technicians and workers. For improving the building emer-
the Universal Circulation Network (UCN) for checking walking dis- gency management, Wang et al. (2014) developed a BIM based vir-
tances between buildings by implementing a length-weighted tual environment (BIM-VE) to address two key issues: (1) timely
graph structure for building models, and developed a plug-in on two-way information flow and its applications during the emergency
top of the Solibri Model Checker. and (2) convenient and simple way to increase evacuation aware-
ness. In addition, VR can also be incorporated with database tech-
4.4. Safety risk management through reactive IT-based safety systems nology for managing construction safety risks. For example,
Hadikusumo and Rowlinson (2002, 2004) created a design-for-
The AEC industry is still faced with a particular challenge of safety-process (DFSP) tool to aid safety risk identification when
high accident rates over 6 percentage in Hong Kong for instance producing the construction plans and schedules in the design
(OSHC, 2008). To detect health and safety (OHS) risks in time and stage. This tool comprises three components: (1) the DFSP data-
mitigate them before any hazards occur, reactive IT-based safety base, (2) the virtual reality construction components and pro-
systems have been used in conjunction with BIM to achieve this cesses, and (3) virtual reality functions. The DFSP database stores
goal. Forsythe (2014) and Zhou et al. (2012) summarised these a full list of common dangerous conditions and actions, local acci-
technologies including, for example, database technology, Virtual dent reports and rules. The integration of the VR components and
Reality (VR), 4D CAD, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which DFSP database allows users to walk through in a virtual project
are discussed in this sub-section. environment from a first-person view and to identify safety risks
within construction components and related processes, and to
4.4.1. Database technology choose preventative measures for those identified risks.
Experience and knowledge learned from past accidents provide
a better perception to prevent hazards in future work (Gambatese 4.4.3. 4D CAD
et al., 2005). An obvious step from this is database technology that Early research of applying four-dimensional computer aided
could be used to store valuable knowledge, capture accurate infor- design (4D CAD) for construction planning to identify potential
mation and then intelligently extract them based on specific selec- problems, mitigate risks, and optimise construction schedule and
tion criteria (Forsythe, 2014). For example, Imhof (2004) collected processes started in the early 1990s (Heesom and Mahdjoubi,
360 cases of bridge failures and established an online database to 2004). The core concept of 4D CAD is to add 4D construction sched-
help learn from past accidents, analyse the risk distribution and ule information into a 3D model to establish a collaboration and
summarise the main risk factors that led to bridge collapse, which communication media and clear visual insights of the construction
allows a better understanding of the mechanism of an accident and sequences for the construction team (Koo and Fischer, 2000). It is
94 Y. Zou et al. / Safety Science 97 (2017) 8898

observed that the most common application of 4D CAD for safety information technologies, BIM, and possibly other techniques.
risk management is to establish an extensive 4D CAD model by Teizer et al. (2007) and Forsythe (2014) summarised the related
gathering all design data about building objects and construction technologies, approaches, their features, and current situation
processes, activities and sequences, and conduct further risk anal- and development. The core philosophy behind proactive IT-based
ysis on the basis of the model. For instance, Benjaoran and Bhokha safety systems is to create a virtual environment where accurate
(2010) presented a 4D CAD model to integrate safety risk and con- positions of both static and moving objects can be tracked, the
struction management. Rule-based algorithms for working-at- corresponding data from the real world can then be collected in
height risks were formalised, interpreted, and visualised into the real time and analysed by formalised safety algorithms, and, most
model. A rule-based system was then used to extract information importantly, information of hazards could be delivered in real-time
from the 4D CAD model to detect working-at-height risks automat- and effective mitigation measures can be taken in time.
ically and forecast necessary measures including safety activities Currently, most efforts of proactive IT-based safety systems
and requirements. In structural analysis, Hu and Zhang proposed focus on tracking the static and moving objects in particular con-
a new method in their two papers (Hu and Zhang, 2011; Zhang struction activities such as excavator and crane usage. For example,
and Hu, 2011) to analyse safety and conflict by incorporating Kim et al. (2004) presented a theoretical model of a human-
BIM, 4D CAD, time-dependent structural analysis, and clash detec- assisted obstacle-avoidance system with a 3D workspace model,
tion, and then implemented this theoretical solution by developing and a sparse point cloud approach was described for modelling sta-
an integrated archetypal system named 4D-GCPSU 2009. A group tic objects or zones which may lead to hazards or have been iden-
of researchers from Finlands VTT Technical Research Centre tified to have risks. The framework includes algorithms for obstacle
demonstrated a BIM-based safety management and communica- avoidance system as well as for 3D workspace modelling. To apply
tion system that develops construction procedures and BIM for this theory, McLaughlin et al. (2004) developed an obstacle detec-
4D safety planning, management, and communication, where tion system to allow machines to navigate around equipment
BIM and 4D CAD are utilised as the central technologies safely. Radio frequency wave spectrum technology was applied
(Kiviniemi et al., 2011). by Allread (2009) to warn workers in real time where blind spots
occur for machine operators and when they are in danger. To
4.4.4. Geographic information systems improve the safety of blind lifting of mobile/tower cranes, Li
While BIM is defined to develop objects geometric data into the et al. (2013) presented a real-time monitoring system which inte-
maximum level of detail, a Geographic Information System (GIS) is grates the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Global
a collection of environmental information from the macro perspec- Positioning System (GPS). The system can detect the interactive
tive (Irizarry and Karan, 2012; Zhou et al., 2012). GIS can be inte- proximity between unauthorised work or the entrance of person-
grated into a Decision Support System (DSS) to monitor and nel and the crane. When workers were present within a risk zone,
control safety risks (Cheng et al., 2002). Along a similar line, a warning was sent to the safety management team. Other proac-
Bansal (2011) successfully applied GIS to predict places and activ- tive technologies have been used in this area including, laser scan-
ities where there was an increased likelihood of hazards in a build- ning (Cheng and Teizer, 2014), remote sensing and actuating
ing project in India because BIM and 4D modelling could not technology (Teizer et al., 2010), and wireless communication
provide the capability for features like 3D components editing, (Wu et al., 2013).
topography modelling, geospatial analysis, and generation and In order to improve the tracking accuracy and reliability, Teizer
updating of schedules. Bansal and Pal (2007) also proved GIS has et al. (2013) used Ultra-Wideband (UWB) to deal with the indoor
the potential to help cost estimation and visualisation. Recently, and outdoor settings and to provide the 3D and 4D location values
several studies have been conducted to explore how to integrate accurately in real time. To enhance the risk management in large
BIM and GIS to improve construction site safety risk management transit projects, Ding and Zhou (2013) developed a web-based sys-
and optimisation. For example, Irizarry and Karan (2012) inte- tem for safety early warning in urban metro construction. From
grated the use of BIM and GIS and proposed a GISBIM model to this review, it has also been observed that sensors receiving pas-
assist identification and optimisation of the feasibility for the loca- sive warning signals are commonly embedded into Personal Pro-
tion of tower cranes. In this work, BIM software was first used to tective Equipment (PPE), such as safety helmets, hats, and shoes,
generate geometry information of the construction site, and the for enhancing the portability of these warning devises, e.g.
GIS model then extracted data from the BIM to determine the (Abderrahim et al., 2005; Teizer et al., 2010).
proper combination of tower cranes for location optimisation.
The analysis output linking to the BIM platform can suggest one 4.6. Implications of BIM-based risk management
or more possible areas including all supply points and demand.
The purpose of this section is twofold: (1) to provide an over-
4.5. Proactive IT-based safety systems view discussion of BIM-based risk management, and (2) to sum-
marise the shortcomings of related technologies.
As described in the previous sections, reactive IT-based safety The literature shows that BIM and numerous BIM-related digi-
systems are able to provide 4D simulation and virtual prototyping tal technologies have been developed to assist risk management
to assist safety risk identification and construction safety manage- during a projects lifecycle. These technologies, discussed in the
ment planning. However, as planning is by nature a predictive pro- previous sub-sections, include BIM, automatic rule checking,
cess established on previous knowledge and experience, the knowledge based systems, reactive and proactive safety systems.
construction projects have a habit of changing during the dynamic Applications managing some particular risks can be developed
processes of project lifecycle (Forsythe, 2014). To manage those based on either a single technology or a combination of several
unplanned changes and unexpected safety risks, it is important technologies as illustrated, for instance, in the 4D-GCPSU 2009 sys-
to track the hazard areas, collect real-time data from the sites for tem. What can be seen from all of the above efforts is that there has
further analysis, and give immediate warning or feedback to the been an emphasis on identifying and mitigating risks as early as
active construction workspace before the actual occurrence of haz- possible, and managing real-time risks before any occurrences of
ards, which is what proactive IT-based safety systems could help hazards. Meanwhile, the findings show that despite considerable
(Teizer et al., 2007). To achieve this objective, proactive IT-based developmental work, most of their focus has been on exploiting
safety systems can be created by combining one or more new technologies to mitigate single risks in particular scenarios
 Y. Zou et al. / Safety Science 97 (2017) 8898 95

for design and construction stages, such as the prevention of falling the concept of multi-disciplinary system-thinking should be
accidents through automatic rule checking. The management of embedded in the research of BIM-based risk management.
construction personnel safety risk is a main interest so far, e.g. in
Sections 4.4 and 4.5.
5.2. Implementation method and process
However, there is a need to point out that most existing studies
are at a conceptual or prototyping stage because of existing limita-
The findings show that despite considerable development work,
tions. For example, an important challenge for knowledge based
much of the focus has been on exploiting and developing new tech-
systems is how to ensure the knowledge and experience shared
nologies to treat specific risks in a particular scenario, which were
by a limited number of professionals are complete and correct
also mentioned by Zhou et al. (2012) and Forsythe (2014). Since
information of the potential risks. Though in current AEC projects,
AEC projects are one-off endeavours with numerous special fea-
successful project risk management is still heavily reliant on all
tures and risks existing during the whole dynamic process, any
participants experience and knowledge, as discussed in Section 3.2,
new methods for risk management are valuable when core project
different people have different educational backgrounds, knowl-
participants start to use these enhanced technologies as part of
edge bases, and project experience, and the process of risk manage-
their daily work. The complete implementation framework or
ment through knowledge sharing is naturally complicated.
method of BIM-based risk management consisting of fragmented
Eastman et al. (2009) highlighted three main problems in current
activities and processes are equally important as technical devel-
automatic rule checking systems: (1) most common rule checking
opments. Finally the people, who work collaboratively in a project
systems rely on IFC as input and currently are limited in what they
team using these technologies for managing risks, make the pro-
support; (2) rule checking at the scale of all sections of a projects
jects successful, and profitable. Based on these observations, an
codes is a massive undertaking. A critical problem is how to iden-
important research topic is to investigate how BIM and BIM-
tify and verify the potential errors in the rule checking algorithms
related technologies can be implemented in real projects to
and building models; (3) current efforts enable checking the final
achieve their best value.
state of a design but fail to support its development process.
Though several reactive IT-based safety systems have been applied
for safety risks planning before actual operation, as described in 5.3. Integration of BIM-based and traditional methods for risk
Section 4.4, a significant shortcoming exists. The planning process management
is by nature established on knowledge and experience-based
human assumptions. As construction is a dynamic process which Another knowledge gap observed in this review is that there are
may last for many years and involves frequently unexpected nearly no studies focusing on integrating BIM and BIM-related dig-
changes and unplanned risks, operational risk management cannot ital technologies with the traditional methods, processes, and tech-
normally fully comply with the original planning. Regarding this niques for risk management. Numerous investigations (Hartmann
issue, an additional method is to work on a collaborative 4D con- et al., 2012; Shim et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2014) have pointed
struction planning platform by collecting as much reliable multi- out that the traditional method is heavily reliant on experience
discipline knowledge and experience as possible (Zhou et al., and multi-disciplinary knowledge, and common risk assessment
2009). Another alternative approach is to use proactive technolo- techniques include Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) (Suresh et al., 1996),
gies for real-time data collection and treatment, as described in decision trees (Dey, 2002), and neural networks (NN)
Section 4.5. However, much of the cited work on proactive systems (Khoshgoftaar and Lanning, 1995), etc. These general methods
is still very young. Some particular hazardous scenarios in, for have been commonly applied by the AEC industry and play a sig-
example, excavation and lifting have been considered. Meantime, nificant role in real projects. Clearly, there is a need to combine
so far most of these efforts only focus on technical development, BIM-based and traditional risk management to improve practical
and these technologies have not reached the stage of human fac- applicability. The potential and benefits have been proved by sev-
tor testing (Forsythe, 2014). Therefore there is still a long way to eral instances. For example, Shim et al. (2012) converted the tradi-
go before the wide use of these new technologies for risk manage- tional risk management method into visual information in a
ment will be common in the workplace. visualisation environment to improve the efficiency for practition-
ers in dynamic risk management in terms of schedule, cost and
safety to assist the design and construction and management of a
5. Discussion challenging cable stayed bridge project. Another study, from a
technology pull perspective, aligned BIM with risk management
An important aspect of this research is to find out challenges into a large infrastructure project to test its practical performance
and research gaps in current BIM-based risk management through (Hartmann et al., 2012).
a systematic and critical review, which is discussed as follows:
5.4. BIM-based risk management as part of the development process
5.1. A multi-disciplinary system-thinking
Undoubtedly risks may be present in the different stages of the
This review indicates that developing new technologies to assist project and product lifecycle and the performance of risk manage-
with the management of construction safety risks is currently a ment has a direct influence on whether the project can be fulfilled
popular research topic. However, any AEC project starts with plan- successfully on-time and within budget. In the UK, the CDM rules
ning and design followed by the construction stage lasting for are a compulsory legislation requirement that indicates all risk
months or years, and eventually the project will come into the analysis for a project starts with the designer. It is the designer
operation period that may last for decades before demolition. Var- who has to assess the risks that may occur during the construction,
ious types of risks (e.g. structural safety risk, financial risk, environ- use of the project, maintenance (including equipment replace-
mental risk, supply risk) may be present in the different stages of ment), and demolition. It is the responsibility of the designer to
the project and product lifecycle. People with different knowledge design out and eliminate the risks wherever possible. If this is
background and from different domains may be involved in the not possible it is the responsibility of the designer to minimise
dynamic process of risk management. ISO (2009) stated that risk the risks. When a contractor is appointed, the analysis of risks con-
management is a logic and systematic method. Hence, it is clear that tinues but now with the assistance of specialists in construction. A
96 Y. Zou et al. / Safety Science 97 (2017) 8898

construction project is normally divided into a number of sub- Acknowledgement

projects for managing risks at a sub-project level by considering
different activities and processes individually. Each sub-project This research is supported by University of Liverpool and China
may have separate designers and contractors with their own risks Scholarship Council (CSC) financially (Grant number:
to identify and manage. A group of risk specialists (experts from 201408500090).
multi-disciplines) hired by the project team then need to collabo-
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