Digitization and Automation Applied to Construction Safety Management
A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 36
Special Issue Editors
Interests: smart construction; BIM; safety management; knowledge management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: industrialized construction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: construction safety; construction technologies; sustainable design and construction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue aims to explore the potential of the cutting-edge digital and automation technologies in improving the effectiveness of construction safety management. With the rapid evolution of information technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Building Information Modeling (BIM), artificial intelligence (AI), and Large Language Models (LLMs), the construction industry is witnessing unprecedented opportunities to enhance safety protocols, risk assessment, real-time decision making, and labor upskilling. This Special Issue focuses on innovative applications of these technologies in managing the construction processes of buildings, roads, tunnels, and structures to avoid accidents and casualties, emphasizing their role in optimizing workflows, improving hazard prediction, fostering proactive risk mitigation strategies, and teaming human workers and AI.
By bridging technological advancements with managerial innovation, this Special Issue aims to provide actionable insights for researchers and practitioners to build safer, smarter, and more resilient construction ecosystems. Therefore, submitted papers should focus on state-of-the-art research on various aspects of digital and automation technology adoption, from both academic and industry perspectives. A key emphasis lies in the integration of these tools into management frameworks—such as dynamic resource allocation, data-driven safety training programs, and collaborative platforms for stakeholder communication. The Special Issue also welcomes studies addressing challenges in technology adoption, including workforce adaptation, interoperability of systems, and ethical implications of automated decision making. Within this, topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Safety informatics and data analytics;
- AI-based accident analysis and prevention;
- Cognitive aspects of technology-enabled safety practices;
- AI-driven safety monitoring and alert systems;
- Automated safety compliance checks;
- Digital twins for simulating hazardous scenarios and human cognition;
- Human–robot teaming/interactions/trust in construction safety management;
- IoT-enabled wearable devices for worker/machine/material safety tracking;
- Integration of safety science with emerging technologies.
Dr. Sheng Xu
Dr. Ke Chen
Dr. Brian Guo
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- safety management
- digital technology
- artificial intelligent
- human-robot interaction
- automation and robotics
- human cognition, ergonomics
- digital twins
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