Using BIM to automate scaffolding planning for risk analysis at construction sites

Scaffolding system plays an important role at construction sites. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 65% of the construction workers use scaffolding system frequently. Each year, there are 4500 injuries and 50 deaths caused by scaffold-related accidents, costing American employers $90 million on lost workdays. Thus well conducted risk analysis on scaffolding system can have a significant impact on project performance. Although many governments developed safety regulations and standards for scaffolding system, it is still a challenge for construction safety managers to execute these regulations at construction sites. One of the reasons is that these regulations are documents which require construction safety manager to accurately translate the information with 2-dimentional drawings into a workable safety plan. Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been employed to enhance safety management at construction sites; however, scaffolding system, as a temporary facility, is usually not developed in the BIM model. Consequently, scaffold-related hazards are hard to be identified and analyzed. This study focuses on constructing a BIM-based scaffolding safety management model to analyze various scaffold-related risks and provide solutions. First, the requirements for scaffolding planning are identified by developing an ontology for risk analysis. Then a series of Dynamo modules are established to automate the process of developing the scaffolding system in the BIM model according to the requirements identified. Next, various simulations based on the potential hazard events are conducted to serve as a tool for educating construction workers and determining solutions. In addition, safety checklists with 3-D location information are derived from the BIM model to help safety managers reduce the difficulties of implementing safety regulations and improve the quality of safety management at construction sites.