Preface

Too many people are killed and injured in our industry each year, despite the best efforts of all parties concerned. Although it is not new, Building Information Modelling (BIM) has seen a huge upsurge in interest in recent years. This is partly as a result of government support, but mainly due to great leaps in technology. Although perceived as a daunting topic, its basic principle is simple. BIM is about gathering, using, interpreting and transmitting information. Information about design, production and programming. Information that can be passed on to others, and used for operation and maintenance or for costing purposes.

Is it such a departure, therefore, to consider how health and safety information might be included in a Building information model? Is this not a massive opportunity for those of us working in construction to embrace this technology and its development, together with the increased efficiency and discipline that it brings? The commercial advantages are fairly obvious, but the potential benefits in improved health and safety, by reducing accidents and deaths, are so great as to be almost unquantifiable.

This book looks at how these benefits can be brought about. We are not suggesting that it will be easy, but we believe that the incorporation of health and safety into BIM is neither the exclusive preserve of the ‘technology’ generation, nor something which is beyond us as health and safety professionals. It is, as popular parlance would have it, a ‘no-brainer’.

Stefan Mordue and Roland Finch

January 2014