(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014)
Irizarry, Javier; Zolfagharian, Samaneh; Ressang, Aziruddin; Nourbakhsh, Mehdi; Gheisari, Masoud
in particular residential building construction. This paper aims at proposing an Automated
Safety-Planning Plug-in (ASPP) for project scheduling software applications, to mitigate the
occurrence of construction accidents. To achieve this aim, frequency and severity of the
common construction safety hazards in residential buildings were investigated by distributing
a questionnaire to safety managers and construction managers in Malaysia. A total of 106
completed responses were received. Then, risk level associated to each hazard was calculated
based on the relevant risk matrix. The ASPP extracts current construction activities from any
computer based schedule (Microsoft Project® in this paper) and identifies their risks level as
well as safety regulations and hazards related to each activity as a report. A case study is
used to investigate the reliability and usability of the ASPP. The ASPP was found to be
efficient and helpful for rigorously complying with safety regulations and control potential
hazards. The practical implication of this study is to improve construction safety by
promoting the project managers’ awareness of safety hazards and associated risks as well as
essential safety indicators provided through a comprehensive report.