Handbook of Construction Safety, Health and Well-being in the Industry 4.0 Era

Book excerpt: This Handbook seeks to examine and advance current understanding of the confluence of construction health, safety and well-being and the broad range of Industry 4.0 technologies in use in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Globally, the construction sector accounts for more than 100,000 occupational fatalities annually. In many countries, reports of work-related accidents, injuries and illnesses are commonplace, and there is an urgent need to improve the occupational safety and health (OSH) outlook of the construction sector. The fourth industrial revolution presents opportunities to leverage modern technologies (e.g., big data, artificial intelligence, automation, sensors, AR, VR and robotics) to improve the poor OSH performance of the construction industry. However, embracing such technologies could also induce unintended adverse consequences for the safety, health and well-being of construction workers. Therefore, the realisation of the opportunities as well as the mitigation of potentially adverse consequences requires research-informed holistic insights around the union of Industry 4.0 and construction occupational safety and health management. This cutting-edge volume addresses a significant gap in literature by bringing together experienced academics and researchers to highlight the drivers, opportunities and drawbacks of the merging of Industry 4.0 with construction health, safety and well-being. After a detailed introductory section which highlights key issues and challenges, section one covers the application of a broad range of digital technologies; then section two discusses the application of industrial production and cyber physical systems in the context of construction safety and health management. Readers from a broad range of AEC backgrounds as well as safety professionals and technologists will come to understand how the technologies are applied and the resulting OSH benefits as well as potential drawbacks.