Leveraging Blockchain for Scaffolding Work Management in Construction

Abstract

As a temporary facility, scaffolding has an essential role in providing a work environment at height in the construction industry. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), approximately 65% of laborers work on scaffolding. Scaffolding work information needs to be effectively managed with reliability to provide a safe environment. However, managing information of the scaffolding work process remains challenging in forgery risk and manual verification. Blockchain has been widely introduced as an accountable and efficient information management solution. This study presents a blockchain-based system for scaffolding work to grant reliability and efficiency of information management. The system is developed to secure applicability by considering three aspects: (1) optimal blockchain platform regarding characteristics of scaffolding work; (2) storage method to address the hindrance of blockchain;(3) information needed to be compared for verifying adequacy. The detailed configuration and process model for the system is categorically presented, and validated via a case study. The case study confirmed that the system was able to store the information in the block smoothly, verify the information using the smart contract successfully, and remain the block size constant by using off-chain. The proposed system has the potential of practical applicability and could contribute to mitigate potential safety risks associated with inadequate scaffolding work management. Furthermore, the proposed system development flow can be leveraged as a guideline to extend blockchain applications to diverse areas in the construction domain.INDEX TERMS Blockchain application, construction safety, hybrid on-chain and off-chain system, scaffolding work, smart contract.

The Assessment of the Maturity of Informatization in Assembly-Building Projects Utilizing the CMM-CME Methodology, Taking a Project in China as an Illustration

“…BIM modeling depth [43] BIM modeling accuracy (C14) 29. Management of scaffolding engineering informatization safety [44] 5. BIM deepening design [1] 30.…”

Integration of Blockchain-Enabled Smart Contracts in Construction: SWOT Framework and Social Network Analysis

“…Facility management [16,17,19,22,24,30,37,40,44,70,73,88,105,107,129,132,155, 165] 18 7 Contract management. administration [1, 4, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 25, 29-31, 33, 35, 44, 49, 50, 69, 70, 86, 95, 99, 109, 112, 122, 128, 129, 133, 143, 149, 150, 154, 163, 169, 172, 186, 192, 196] 39 8 Quality management (Compliance checking) [1, 9, 10, 17, 20, 23, 29, 30, 40, 44, 48, 61, 65, 73, 89, 97, 104, 112, 118, 120, 124, 132, 134, 138, 145, 147, 150, 163-166, 174, 180, 181, 190 [15-17, 25, 30, 40, 43, 53, 61, 69, 73, 86, 125, 139, 147, 158, 159, 169] 18 Change management [1,4,43,54,115,120,133,136,147,150,166,170] 12 Risk management [33,37,73,95,106,121,134,150,181] 9 Subcontract management [10, 31, 35, 39, 42, 48, 57, 58, 60, 68, 95, 98, 99, 102, 110, 111, 114-117, 136, 143, 150, 153, 161, 163, 175, 179, 186, 191] 30 Integrated technology-BIM…”

“…-11, 14, 16, 17, 21, 25, 27, 29, 30, 34, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 48, 56-58, 60-62, 71, 73, 92, 94, 96, 101-104, 106, 108, 109, 114, 121-124, 128, 131, 132, 134-136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 150, 151, 153, 154, 156-158, 162, 163, 165-167, 169, 170, 172-174, 176-180, 183, 185, 189, 195, 210] ,18, 19, 26, 30, 31, 33, 34, 37-39, 41, 46-48, 50, 51, 54, 56, 58, 65, 68, 71, 87, 89, 96, 106, 108, 112, 113, 115-117, 119, 120, 124, 127, 128, 132, 133, 136-138, 140, 141, 143-146, 148, 151-154, 157, 159, 162, 163, 166, 174, 176, 178, 179, 182, 184, 185, 190-192, 195] -11,14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 29, 33, 35-39, 41, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 52, 54-60, 62, 64, 68, 69, 71, 73, 86-89, 91, 93-95, 97, 100-102, 104, 106, 107, 110, 112, 114-122, 124, 126, 128, 130-132, 134, 136-140, 142, 143, 146, 147, 149-154, 156-158, 163, 165, 168-170, 172-174, 177, 178, 180- 182, 184, 186, 190, 191, 193, 195, 196] ,16,18,21,25,26,31,33,35,37,41,43,62,69,87,95,100,102,103,118,119,121,122,124,138,142,146,148,150,152,154,158,163,167,170,174,182,195] …”

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“…According to Bhat and Reddy [36], blockchain technology can generate both symbolic and functional benefits. Symbolic benefits derived from perceived strategic level benefits involve corporate image enhancement, reputation improvement, and gain in market share, whereas functional benefits focus on efficiency and relate to the extent to which a technology is useful to specific departments [37], businesses, and processes [38].…”