A study on BIM for underground construction : safety planning and management

• Main Author: Tan, Joel Yu Heng
• Other Authors: Tiong Lee Kong, Robert
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/67540
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The construction industry in Singapore continues to the main contributor to workplace fatalities. Although the government has increased intervention to improve workplace health and safety, more can be done by the private sector to provide a safe working environment. The use of BIM has resulted in many widely acknowledged benefits for the construction industry. Locally, the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore has introduced several initiatives to promote the use of BIM in the local industry, and has mandated the submission of BIM for regulatory approval since 2015. In underground construction, there is no requirement for BIM submission to the authorities. As a result, BIM is rarely used in underground construction projects, despite it’s relatively more hazardous environment, with the project teams choosing to continue with conventional work processes relying on the use of CAD drawings. Thus there is a failure to exploit the potential of BIM processes in improving safety planning and management. This project seeks to qualitatively explore the viability of implementing BIM in underground construction with respect to safety planning and management. Site data on safety risks and current risk responses were collected from a case study site. Possible applications of BIM in mitigating or reducing these risks are highlighted and qualitatively assessed by means of an interview with a panel of experienced industry experts. The use of BIM was assessed to be useful in internalizing safety considerations early in the construction design and planning stage, allowing for possible design for safety. It is also viable for quantity surveying of safety structures and components, easing the workload of the safety management team. BIM also offers an avenue for safety information to be better shared among site staff and workers. However, the implementation of BIM in underground construction safety planning is plagued by similar limitations in the adoption of BIM. Despite that, the limitations are surmountable and the use of BIM to improve safety planning and management in underground construction has the potential to reap benefits in addition to widely known benefits offered through BIM.