Interactive safety education using building anatomy modelling

Abstract

In order to proactively prevent accidents and injuries in construction, tertiary safety education should equip students with adequate safety knowledge and skills. However, in most construction curricula, safety is considered a low priority, and safety education is delivered in isolation, without sufficient interaction and practical experience to improve safety learning. On the other hand, anatomical theory in medicine has been adopted by and proved advantageous to various scientific disciplines. With this regard, this study presents an interactive construction safety education system using building anatomy modelling (BAM) based on the integration of anatomical theory and state-of-the-art visualization technologies. The BAM system comprises two modules: (1) knowledge acquisition module, which delivers safety knowledge to students; and (2) practical experience module, which enables students to interact with BAM to improve their hazard identification and elimination skills. The building anatomy concept (BAC) and BAM prototype are evaluated through interactive system trials with educators and learners. Findings suggest the BAC has significant pedagogic potential, and the proposed system can effectively provide safety knowledge and interactively support the development of practical safety skills of learners. © 2017 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany