Integrating Safety and Health Performance into Construction CPM

Abstract

Construction accidents cause many human tragedies, demotivate construction workers, disrupt construction processes, delay progress, and adversely affect the cost, productivity, and reputation of the construction industry. Therefore, use of effective planning and control techniques to prevent them can have a significant human, social, and financial impact. This paper develops a framework for a computerized safety and health knowledge-intensive system that has been implemented and integrated with current critical path method (CPM) scheduling software. A discussion of current industry problems is initially presented to verify the need and approach taken. The purpose and rationale for a knowledge-intensive integrated system is presented to show how the development of such a system will improve on current industry practice. Next, the design and implementation of the system called IKIS-Safety—integrated knowledge-intensive prototype system for construction safety and health performance control—is described. Finally, the paper highlights the contributions and benefits of such a prototype system.