Purpose The prevention through design (PtD) concept has been widely recognized as one of the most effective approaches to eliminate or reduce construction site hazards. It encourages engineers and architects to consider occupational safety and health during the planning and design phases. Nevertheless, the implementation of PtD is often inhibited because designers lack adequate knowledge about construction safety and the construction process, and limited design-for-safety tools and procedures are available for designers to use. The purpose of this paper is to provide designers a tool for assessing construction risks during early phases of multistory building projects at an activity level and on a daily basis in a 4D environment. By using the tool, proactive measures could be taken in the design and planning phase to reduce site hazards. Design/methodology/approach The proposed method consists of four steps including risk quantification at a design element level, 4D model integration with risk values, risk assessment, and design alternative selection and model acceptance. A case study was carried out to test and verify the proposed method. Findings The proposed tool has the capability to assess the safety risk for an entire multistory project and visualize safety risk in a particular time period, work space and task prior to construction. It benefits designers in conducting risk assessments and selecting design alternatives concerning safety. Contractors could also utilize the visualization and simulation results of the 4D model for site safety planning so that a range of risk mitigation strategies could be implemented during construction. Originality/value The study provides an innovative PtD tool targeting designers as primary end-users. The proposed tool helps designers assess construction risks and has potential to incorporate the top levels of the hierarchy of risk controls.

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The widespread adoption of automated materials locating and tracking technologies (AMLTTs) in the construction supply chain can positively impact productivity in industrial construction projects. Prior academic studies have identified the need, recommended the use and demonstrated the potential of AMLTTs using field trials and experiments. These studies have also identified the potential benefits and challenges of AMLTT implementation. Very few studies have empirically examined the on-site application of AMLTTs in projects and reported the actual benefits and challenges. This paper examines the commercial implementation of AMLTT in seven industrial projects to examine the benefits and challenges. Based on the empirical studies, four propositions are presented on the benefits and challenges of AMLTT use. First, improved operational efficiency due to AMLTT allows project/firm personnel to focus more on business-critical activities. Second, AMLTT use improves the transactional visibility of materials through information sharing in the supply-chain network. Third, AMLTT use requires a thorough data management plan. Finally, in order to achieve strategic benefits, AMLTT use requires addressing the organisational aspects of technology adoption. The enhanced understanding of the benefits and challenges of AMLTT implementation is the contribution to the industrial construction body of knowledge.

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