How BIM Can Help Create Safer Construction Sites

Streamlined collaboration and faster project completion aren’t the only benefits of BIM. Modeling software can also help you create a safer working environment. Using BIM for a safe construction site helps reduce injuries and illness, protecting your workers’ well-being and saving you money.

Focus Your Preparation

Every project involves hundreds of tasks, each with its own potential complications. A general overview of the project won’t provide you with the detailed information you need to spot all these risks. Using BIM, you’ll be able to focus in on one task at a time, closely review the risks involved, and take steps to minimize them before work starts. If you notice usual risks, you’ll have time to provide your workers with a refresher on safety procedures. As an added benefit, this kind of detailed preparation also improves efficiency.

Visualize Working Conditions

Even for experienced construction professionals, it can be hard to envision exactly what conditions will be like on a given site. BIM lets managers and workers alike explore a 3D version of the site so they can prepare for the conditions there before they meet them in real life.

By using BIM for a safe construction site, you can ensure your workers will be equipped with proper safety gear, have the right tools for every task they’ll perform, and that the schedule includes sufficient time for the breaks necessary in certain weather conditions. You’ll also be able to run through your emergency procedures for fires or chemical spills.

Spot Hazards Early

While some risks are inevitable, others are completely avoidable and can be removed or mitigated before workers ever arrive on site. Incorrectly erected scaffolding can be re-erected, open holes can be guarded, and material mounded too close to the edge of a trench can be moved. These simple preventive measures can save lives, but to take them, you need to know where the hazards are in the first place. Building modeling software gives you the vantage point you need to do this.

For more tips on using BIM for a safe construction site, contact Construction Monitor today.