Incorporating H&S into design and construction: The case for integrating serious games engines technologies and 4D planning for collaborative work

Abstract

The construction industry has problems with implementing and complying with health and safety approaches and procedures. This area has seen a number of papers analysing how it can effect production and how health and safety can be improved within the industry. Serious games provide an avenue designers and construction personnel to experience what occurs on a construction site and develop understanding of the way in which the building will constructed and the influence of different H&S procedures and rules before they enter a live construction site. These tools have traditionally been designed around the assumption of users engaging with present construction scenarios with the goal of experimenting with specific skills or behaviours that are important when interacting with the site for real. The construction industry has other tools it can exploit to increase the training value of serious games. 4d and 5d planning and visualisation tools and techniques can help expand the horizons of these types of training games. In particular, by merging virtual training environments with a 4d design ethos, the range of potential knowledge the game can impart would be significantly increased. This research paper is exploring how a cross-pollinisation of these two techniques can yield a richer environment for transferring skills and knowledge for collaborative design and construction within the context of H&S planning. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.