A method to implement prevention through design using 4D BIM

Prevention through design (PtD) highlights the importance of foreseeing safety risks in construction projects and proposing ways to mitigate them. The BIM Risk Library tool is a feature within a cloud-based BIM application designed to implement PtD effectively. This paper reports on the outcome of a series of workshops where a group of designers and construction safety experts used the BIM Risk Library tool and 4D BIM to perform a safety risk assessment collaboratively. The purpose of the workshops was to explore how a 4D model can support the traditional construction safety management processes at early design stages, with a focus on the safety risk identification and treatment selection processes. Results reveal that 4D BIM can effectively support such processes by facilitating visualising a particular point in time in the project, enabling the identification of risks that could have been overlooked and providing a collaborative environment that favours active engagement.