The Application of BIM-Based OHSMS Information Systems to Improve Safety Performance

Universities are spacious areas with several facilities and unique workplaces which have different potential hazards and risks [1]. Most of the activities conducted are susceptible to hazards with subsequent effects on occupational safety and health of people on the property [2-4]. The existence of several occupational accidents and diseases in these universities led to the implementation of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) [5]. This is considered important due to several accidents usually experienced which make a university environment an unsafe place to study [6] even though these institutions are obliged to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of all students, lecturers, executives, and anyone working on campus [7].

The potential hazards and risks are often recorded in laboratory activities to have caused chemical explosions, radiation, as well as physical and biological exposure [1, 3, 8]. This led to the focus of most previous studies concerning work accidents in universities on laboratory activities [3-5, 9-11]. Some other examples of hazards include fire [3, 12, 13], construction works [1], and natural disaster [14, 15].

The poor application of OHSMS in higher education is caused by the perception that universities are safe and comfortable environments to conduct academic activities [16]. This assumption prevents the climate and culture of safety in the formation of these institutions [6]. Meanwhile, the lack of safety knowledge causes OHS managers to be unaware of potential hazards, emergency response, risk control for occupational accidents and diseases, and the use of PPE [5, 16-19].

One of the causes of accidents in universities is construction works which subsequently affect safety performance. This implies there is a need for good communication and information sharing strategy between those involved in the university and project management [19, 20]. Some of the factors observed to be causing construction work accidents in universities include weak safety policies, poor risk management, weak supervision, inadequate project management skills, design errors and construction methods, errors in selecting contractors/subcontractors, lack of understanding of construction safety at the university management level which causes lack of supervision, unsafe behavior, and a lack of technological innovation during the implementation of construction safety strategies [19-21].

Universitas Indonesia (UI) is one of the largest campuses in Indonesia and the main problems associated with the implementation of OHSMS in its environment include inadequate communication between OHSMS managers from both the university and faculty levels, lack of an optimal system for documenting incidents and accidents, and the existence of third parties or contractors that fail to report incidents/accidents in their workplace. Moreover, construction work has been discovered to be one of the major contributors to the fatality figure recorded in the university environment. Examples of these include the killing of construction workers at the Pusgiwa building by lightning in 2018 and the collapse of the Menwa building roof during renovation which injured 3 workers in 2016. It was also discovered from the data compiled by PUPR (2016) that the construction industry has the largest number of accidents. ILO data also estimated that at least 60,000 fatal accidents were recorded at construction sites worldwide and they occurred every 10 minutes [22].

The recent technological developments have made it possible to improve the safety performance at UI in line with Government Regulation no. 50 of 2012 Article 15. It is important to note that OHSMS is implemented in three organizational levels of the university environment which include the university, faculty, and project levels. There is, therefore, the need for an information system to integrated these levels using computer hardware and software utilities, procedure manuals, databases, models for analysis, planning, control, and decision-making [23]. This is necessary to ensure a more effective and efficient OHSMS, easier decision-making process, and to reduce management operational costs [24].

The use of BIM (Building Information Modeling) is increasing in the construction industry of Indonesia in line with the provisions of the Minister of Public Works Regulation No. 22 of 2018. BIM contains data and information needed from the planning to control stage of a project and has the ability to collaborate with an integrated information system to ensure safety management. This is supported by previous findings that its application in construction projects was able to improve safety performance due to its ability to visualize site conditions and identify hazards [25, 26].

There is a need to develop an appropriate safety management process which accommodates communication and information sharing between the OHS managers in UI [27, 28]. Therefore, this study was conducted to develop a BIM-based information system for OHSMS in the school.

The project life cycle starting from design to construction planning and maintenance requires special attention and appropriate strategy to ensure safety . There is a need to identify and eliminate potential hazards and risks during the project planning stage . This is due to the fact that a construction project consists of risky activities which lead to the development of a safety plan in recognizing the hazards as well as devising for their control towards overcoming work accidents [32, 39].

It is important to note that the safety plan is usually derived from the work package formed in the project WBS . This is in line with the provisions of the Minister of PUPR Regulation No. 10 of 2021.

Safety performance in construction work can be enhanced through the application of BIM technology to the management of construction safety issues. This is due to its possible application in the design of safety plans, inspection and monitoring of designs, emergency response, and communication of safety issues to all parties involved . It can also be used to model 2D CAD drawings of the construction plans translated into WBS to 3D, 4D, and nD towards ensuring the components of the projects are visualized better . It is important to note that the BIM 3D modeling is the basis of BIM while BIM 4D modeling is a combination of 3D modeling and project schedule which is normally used to control the implementation of the project schedule effectively and to reduce the total cost . The 4D modeling can also be used to develop a project site safety plan which involves field logistics, project traffic layout development, and identification of potential hazards in the field . Meanwhile, 5D modeling is usually used to control project implementation costs and budgets while 6D focuses on the energy use in a building and 7D modeling deals with the development of the facility management life cycle during the operational and maintenance phases . It can be observed from this present study that the BIM-based safety plan integrates the WBS template and 3D object modeling to produce 4D BIM modeling .

BIM technology is currently mostly used in design and pre-construction stages by planners to visualize the project site and identify potential hazards . Meanwhile, there is a need to continuously monitor the safety plan during the period of project implementation because the hazards and risks identified can still occur. This indicates the BIM technology should not be limited to the planning stage only but also extended to the implementation and maintenance stages. It is important to acknowledge that the combination of 3D BIM and project schedule makes it possible to monitor the implementation process in real-time. This is due to its ability to serve as an effective communication tool during project implementation such as toolbox meetings to explain potential work hazards to workers [41].

Safety performance can be measured by monitoring the implementation of a safety management plan. It should be pointed out that the requirements, methods, and instructions related to safety need to be documented in safety regulations, specifications, and work implementation standards after the hazards and risks are identified in the planning stage for employees to access while doing the work [34]. The 4D BIM, however, contains the information related to potential hazards and their mitigation [41] and this indicates it can be used to prepare safety requirement documents during the implementation stage [41]. Moreover, a web-based information system can be used to ensure easy access to the document and real-time project visualization while cloud-based safety information using a web portal has been discovered to have the ability to improve safety performance. The data normally used as input in the BIM include the WBS, project team member data, identified hazards, and real project images [48].

There is a need for an information system in the OHSMS at UI to improve communication between OHS managers at both the university and faculty levels. It is also required to maximize the documentation of incidents and accidents in the university, especially for third parties (contractors) in order to have an adequate report in their workplace and use the lessons learned in the next construction project. The web-based information system also allows the management to disseminate information among project team members . This, therefore, shows that safety information and web-based communication can improve safety performance .

The BIM-based OHSMS information system developed has a positive impact on the smooth running of construction projects in the UI Area. This is associated with the ability of the workers to recognize potential hazards from the visualization of the BIM model, thereby, increasing their awareness. Another advantage of this system is that safety information on the building can be accessed easily, anywhere, and anytime without having to go through a long process. Moreover, it is also possible for the OHSMS manager to assess the performance of contractors by checking reports submitted to the information system. This, therefore, indicates the system can improve safety performance.