Abstract:
The construction industry has been known for many decades as a high-risk industry with
low levels of innovation and reluctance to adopt change. Common causes of construction
accidents are associated with human error, hazardous work activities, defective
equipment and dangerous working environments. However, to provide a better and safe
working environment, the industry can exploit the benefits of emerging health and safety
technologies. The purpose of this study is to explore the application of various emerging
technologies and how they can be used to improve construction health and safety
management. The paper reviewed extensive literature from previous studies on emerging
technologies and interventions for construction job site safety such as; Virtual Reality
(VR), online databases, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Building Information
Modelling (BIM), Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), 4D Computer-Aided Design (4D
CAD), wearables, robotics, laser scanning, photogrammetry and sensor-based
technologies. Furthermore, these technologies were grouped into three categories;
people technologies, process technologies and environmental technologies for better
analysis. Keywords such as ‘construction health and safety technologies’, ‘digital
technologies’ and ‘emerging technologies’ were used to search online databases. This
study identified emerging technologies and their application in the construction industry
to improve health and safety.
