The Role of Industry 4.0 Technologies in Improving the Health, Safety, and Well-Being (HSW) of Construction Workers

Construction is considered as one of the most dangerous sectors globally, not just in South Africa, due to the incidence of ‘accidents’, fatalities, injuries, and ill-health, including the experience of stress. The aim of the study reported on was to evolve a framework of Industry 4.0 interventions to mitigate the aforementioned, one objective being to determine the role of Industry 4.0 technologies and Building Information Modelling (BIM) therein. The quantitative method was adopted, and a questionnaire survey was distributed to Construction Health and Safety Agents (CHSAs), Construction Health and Safety Managers (CHSMs), Construction Health and Safety Officers (CHSOs), and Construction Managers (CMs) / Site Agents (SAs) in East London, and Port Elizabeth, South Africa. In terms of the salient findings, the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies offers a plethora of benefits as far as HSW is concerned through enhanced 3D visualisation, monitoring, and hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA). Conclusions include that Industry 4.0 technologies and BIM can contribute to mitigating ‘accidents’, fatalities, injuries, and ill-health, including the experience of stress thus enhancing the HSW of workers. Recommendations include: the inclusion of Industry 4.0 technologies and BIM in tertiary-built environment education, and the implementation thereof on construction projects; comprehensive multi-stakeholder related-continuing professional development (CPD) and further related-research.