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Abstract Construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries to work in. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that safety performance improvement is stagnating. Information technologies (ITs) are however identified as one of the most promising methods of improving the performance of construction safety. The goal of this paper was therefore to present previous research in the application of innovative ITs to the field of construction health and safety (H&S), classified by their underlying technology and application, to identify research gaps, as well as to evaluate and describe the potential of their implementation into construction safety practice. To achieve the set goals, the research consisted of identifying and studying the existing research published in the leading journals in the field of construction H&S. The review identified 72 papers dealing with development or application of innovative ITs. The research had also identified several research gaps, which have a significant impact on the construction safety practice. These gaps focus on the construction phase, while neglecting earlier project phases; industry and project levels, while neglecting construction activity and task levels; building projects, while neglecting infrastructure projects and specific hazard types, while neglecting a universal approach. Focussing research effort on these gaps would benefit all construction safety stakeholders but mostly the prominent contractors and H&S professionals. Furthermore, recommendations for directing research focus on solving the identified issues are given in this paper.

The main objective of this research is to identify spatial configurations that were dominant in apartment design from 1930 to 2015 in the city of Osijek, Croatia. Development of apartment design will be shown in the framework of various time periods following the social and economic changes that have taken place in Osijek in the last decades.For this research, a total of 590 apartment building plans were collected. The final sample contains 358 spatial configuration diagrams of medium-sized apartments.Results identified five different spatial configurations that were innovative for the period in which they appeared. The conclusion of the research is that the spatial layout of the apartment changes according to social and economic periods. Differences among types were identified in apartment functions organized by zones versus those organized by rooms; direct versus indirect inter-room communication; the appearance of specific room functions versus the integration of room functions; and growth versus decline of the net area of specific rooms. Results can be applied in further studies on improving and adapting the existing housing stock to contemporary housing requirements.

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Hazard identification in the construction industry is subject to a larger number of variables and unknowns than in other manufacturing industries making the hazard identification process more difficult and resulting in many injuries and fatalities. Moreover, previous research identified a research gap with regards to a universal hazard identification method. The results presented in this paper are a prerequisite for the development of such a method. Specifically, this paper proposes a novel classification of hazards in order to enable a more accurate hazard identification process which can take all possible hazards into consideration. Based on the theoretical framework, three hazard types are proposed in the research: self-induced hazards, peer-induced hazards, and global hazards. This classification is based on who is the source (who causes) the hazards in relation to who is affected by the hazards. Such classification was not identified in previous literature. This research also has practical implications. Such classification of hazards may influence safety experts to more actively focus on peer-induced hazards which are the hardest to identify. Finally, the outputs of the entire research should enable a more accurate and comprehensive hazard identification resulting in reduced injury and fatality rates in the construction industry.