The use of a BIM-based framework to support safe facility management processes

Abstract

Workers in this field are at constant risk of electrical shock, falls, crushing, cuts, and bruises and as a result, have a much higher rate of injury and illness than the national average.Case study analysis confirms that many of the recorded accidents could have been avoided had the victim followed appropriate hazard mitigation steps to safely execute a facility repair and maintenance task, defined in this research as safety protocol. Currently, safety related information is conveyed to FM staff through training seminars, O&M manuals, plans & specifications, database storage, safety meetings, and safety literature. This information, although comprehensive, often remains fragmented among multiple resources and is left up to the worker's discretion whether the information is relevant. Research has shown that the more time and effort, known as inconvenience, an individual must spend obtaining information, the less likely they are to retrieve the information and obey the stated warnings.This research focuses on the identification, categorization, transference, and delivery of safety related information applicable to facility management staff. This is executed by, obtaining safety inputs through various mechanisms of data collection, categorizing the safety inputs, transferring the information utilizing existing BIM-based software and research methods into a data storage repository, and designing a data retrieval and processing system (DRPS), integrated into the repository to interact with the data. The DRPS adds structure and relationships through a UML Class Diagram and Sequence Diagram. Additionally, standardized safety properties are developed for asset groups using the Asset Safety Identification Tool (ASIT). Finally, a conceptual graphical user interface (GUI) is developed to represent the interaction between the DRPS and the FM Worker. By combining the DRPS with a GUI, a FM worker can efficiently interact with a singular repository for safety information, eliminating the need to reference multiple resources in order to obtain comprehensive safety information. The goal of this research is to mitigate the fragmentation and timing inefficiencies within safety related information retrieval by developing a BIMbased framework to categorize, consolidate, and deliver job specific safety information, eliminating the need to reference multiple documents in order to develop a comprehensive, task specific safety plan. Workers in this field are at constant risk of electrical shock, falls, crushing, cuts, and bruises and as a result, have a much higher rate of injury and illness than the national average.Data analysis confirms that many of the recorded accidents could have been avoided had the victim followed appropriate hazard mitigation steps to safely execute a facility repair and maintenance task.Currently, safety related information is conveyed to FM staff through training seminars, operations & maintenance manuals, plans & specifications, virtual training, safety meetings, and safety literature. This information, alt...

Design for safety: theoretical framework of the safety aspect of BIM system to determine the safety index

“…Their system allows architects, designers and owners to evaluate the proposed design at the initial planning stage to ensure that the design meets the safety requirements. Wetzel and Thabet (2015) developed a BIM-based framework for safety in facility management using rules algorithm to output safety information. A group of researchers have used rule algorithm to develop construction safety ontology that enabled more effective inquiry on safety knowledge based on rules for job hazard analysis.…”

Integrating BIM into facility management

“…A review of extant literature however, reveals that previous studies on BIM for FM facility managers with a consolidated database of information about the project; more commonly referred to as an asset information model (AIM) (William East et al, 2013, Patacas et al, 2015, Wetzel and Thabet, 2015.…”

Applications of Building Information Modeling in Electrical Systems Design

“…Further Interoperability issues between BIM model and energy simulation applications also form barriers for the reliable EPA [45]. Compared to BIM usage in design and construction phase, its use in facility lifecycle phase is in its infancy [35].…”

“…becomes safer [34]. [35] presented a BIM based framework for Facility management safety including electric shock. User controlled automatic clash detection tools are available with BIM application for multidisciplinary coordination.…”