Industry Input Needed Now To Make Construction Safer For The Future

BIMSafe NZ is asking for the construction industry’s input to help reduce accidents and injuries on New Zealand Construction sites in an industry wide survey launched today.

BIM technology can be utilised for all components of a build project’s design process - architects, engineers, contractors, and workers can assess and mitigate safety risks in the computer model before, during and after the construction process. Photo sourced from iStock.

Currently, construction accounts for 10% of the national workforce, but 15% of all ACC claims. Construction has more injuries and claims than any other sector, and to date, rates of serious injury and deaths in New Zealand are higher than our OECD equivalents.

BIMSafe NZ wants to do something about this by using the collaboration and visualisation powers of Building Information Modelling (BIM) to improve health and safety outcomes in the sector. The technology aims to create safer and healthier work environments by reducing workplace harm.

BIM can be utilised for all components of a build project’s design process and facilitates greater collaboration between all stakeholders. By being able to visualise the work to be done and see the risks involved through the 3-D model, architects, engineers, contractors, and workers can identify potential health and safety risks before they happen. It also allows those who are exposed to the risks to have a say on how they are best mitigated.

The online industry questionnaire will assess the current state of BIM use and awareness in New Zealand and takes only ten minutes to complete.

BIMSafe NZ Project Lead, Paul Duggan, says, “We are conducting this research to better understand how (BIM) technology is currently used in construction health and safety practices. In order to set a benchmark and measure the industry’s progress over the next three years, we need accurate data from ALL stakeholders in both horizontal and vertical facilities projects in New Zealand to enable greater reach and impact across the industry.”

The project’s aim is to accelerate use of BIM which has already doubled in the last six years, (from 34% to 68% according to the latest BIM in New Zealand Benchmark survey). The use of BIM has been mandated for all government projects greater than $5 million and will be the primary way information is shared between construction stakeholders in the future.

Paul says, “We really want to hear from all members of the construction industry. Even if people aren’t using BIM yet, their responses are really valuable as this feedback will help us to understand where our efforts should be directed to encourage greater industry engagement.

Through this survey, the industry can contribute to the project and play a small but very significant part and provide valuable insights. By donating just ten minutes of their time, industry members can help us reduce accidents and injuries, raise awareness of the powers of digital engineering, and help to keep New Zealander’s safe on construction sites.” The short survey can be completed here.

What is BIM technology and the BIMSafe NZ Project?
BIM is a three-dimensional computer model of a construction project, in a similar way that Google Maps is a digital representation of roads and places. The technology aims to create safer and healthier work environments by reducing workplace harm. Users can visualise potential health and safety issues before they happen. The model is used to plan and record safe work practices.

BIMSafe NZ is a $1.7 million three-year collaboration between the Canterbury Safety Charter and the Building Innovation Partnership (BIP) at the University of Canterbury. The project is funded by ACC’s Workplace Injury Prevention Grants and MBIE. The project aims to change behaviour in the way risks are identified, managed, and communicated on construction sites in New Zealand.

BIMSafe NZ is developing Best Practice Guidelines for incorporating health and safety information into BIM models, and then enabling greater worker access to that information during construction and use.

The outcome they hope to achieve during the project is to increase the awareness, capability, and use of BIM models for health and safety across the construction sector.

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