Patrick Manu - Böcker

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.

The global construction sector is infamous for high levels of injuries, accidents and fatalities, and poor health and well-being of its workforce. While this record appears in both developed and developing countries, the situation is worse in developing countries, where major spending on infrastructure development is expected. There is an urgent need to improve construction health and safety (H&S) in developing countries. The improvement calls for the development of context-specific solutions underpinned by research into challenges and related solutions. This edited volume advances the current understanding of construction H&S in developing countries by revealing context-specific issues and challenges that have hitherto not been well explored in the literature, and applying emergent H&S management approaches and practices in developing countries. Coverage includes countries from the regions of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. This book, which is the first compendium of research into construction H&S issues in developing countries, adds considerable insight into the field and presents innovative solutions to help address poor H&S in construction in developing nations. It is a must read for all construction professionals, researchers and practitioners interested in construction and occupational H&S, safety management, engineering management and development studies.

This edited book presents a significant and timely contribution to our understanding of a broad range of issues pertaining to COVID-19 and its relationship to occupational safety, health and well-being (OSHW) in the global construction industry.The editors first introduce the industry and its poor OSHW history before highlighting some of the broader impacts of the pandemic on the sector. The book is then divided into two sections. Section One focuses on the management of COVID-19 transmission risk. It captures insights, practices, technologies and lessons learned in relation to what has and is being done to prevent or mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission among the construction workforce. Construction Safety, Health and Well-being in the COVID-19 Era also details case studies, lessons and best practices for managing sites and workforces when infections inevitably do occur. Section Two brings together international chapters discussing the impacts of COVID-19 on the OSHW of the construction workforce both on and off-site, as well as the management of those impacts. Furthermore, this presents implications of the pandemic (at the short-, medium-, and long-term) for other performance measures of construction projects such as cost, schedule, quality and, most importantly, how the pursuit/non-pursuit of such performance measures have impacted/will impact the OSHW of construction workers and professionals in the industry.This book addresses the gap in literature by offering global perspectives on the OSHW impacts and implications of COVID-19 in the construction industry and will help its wide readership (including construction industry organisations, professionals, researchers, government bodies/policy makers and students) to understand a broad suite of issues pertaining to COVID-19 and its relationship to OSHW in construction.

This edited book presents a significant and timely contribution to our understanding of a broad range of issues pertaining to COVID-19 and its relationship to occupational safety, health and well-being (OSHW) in the global construction industry.The editors first introduce the industry and its poor OSHW history before highlighting some of the broader impacts of the pandemic on the sector. The book is then divided into two sections. Section One focuses on the management of COVID-19 transmission risk. It captures insights, practices, technologies and lessons learned in relation to what has and is being done to prevent or mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission among the construction workforce. Construction Safety, Health and Well-being in the COVID-19 Era also details case studies, lessons and best practices for managing sites and workforces when infections inevitably do occur. Section Two brings together international chapters discussing the impacts of COVID-19 on the OSHW of the construction workforce both on and off-site, as well as the management of those impacts. Furthermore, this presents implications of the pandemic (at the short-, medium-, and long-term) for other performance measures of construction projects such as cost, schedule, quality and, most importantly, how the pursuit/non-pursuit of such performance measures have impacted/will impact the OSHW of construction workers and professionals in the industry.This book addresses the gap in literature by offering global perspectives on the OSHW impacts and implications of COVID-19 in the construction industry and will help its wide readership (including construction industry organisations, professionals, researchers, government bodies/policy makers and students) to understand a broad suite of issues pertaining to COVID-19 and its relationship to OSHW in construction.

This edited book addresses a gap in literature by advancing current understandings of the applications of immersive technology within the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector.Globally, the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector makes an enormous contribution to the socio-economic development of nations, which is primarily evidenced by its creation/provision of the built environment. The sector has, however, often been criticised for inefficiencies, waste and diverse forms of adverse impacts that are associated with the lifecycle of the provision of built assets – design, construction, operations and maintenance and end-of-life phases. Over the years, the inefficiencies, waste and adverse impacts have often been a catalyst for calls and initiatives to transform the AEC sector. The advent of the fourth industrial revolution (commonly referred to as, ‘Industry 4.0’), which entails the automation and digitalisation of production, presents opportunities to leverage emerging technologies to improve the image and productivity of the sector. Prominent among the emerging technologies in the Industry 4.0 era is that of immersive technology, which includes virtual reality, mixed reality and augmented reality. The capability of immersive technology to deliver beneficial impacts for multiple construction sector stakeholders throughout the construction lifecycle has been acknowledged within the industry and this continues to stimulate interest amongst practitioners, policymakers and researchers. Despite this phenomenon, at present there is no dedicated compendium of research-informed text that focusses on the multifaceted applications of immersive technology throughout the lifecycle of the provision of built assets right from concept design to end-of-life.This book thus addresses this gap in literature by advancing current understanding of the applications of immersive technology within the AEC industry. Readers will understand how the technologies are applied, the resulting array of impacts including benefits, drawbacks, challenges and future directions for applications, research and development.