Purpose: Construction safety is heavily affected by using new technologies in this growing trend of technology adoption. Especially, safety performance is enhanced through the utilization of some effective technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, BIM and wearable devices. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of emerging technologies on construction safety performance and quantify the relationship between those. The proposed components of emerging technologies are BIM, GIS, VR, RFID, AI, ML, eye tracking and serious games and wearable devices, whereas the dimensions of construction safety performance are safety planning, safety training, safety inspection and monitoring, safety audits and reviews and safety leadership.Design/methodology/approach: A structural model was composed consisting of emerging technologies and safety performance indicators. Then, a questionnaire was designed and administered to construction professionals, and data from 167 projects were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The data were analyzed by using software, called SPSS AMOS.Findings: The analysis of the structural model proves that there is a positive and significant relationship between emerging technologies and construction safety performance. Moreover, the factor loadings for each factor were found to be high indicating a good representation of the construct by the components developed. Among the technologies, BIM, robotics and automation, AI and wearable devices were detected to be the most significant technologies in terms of impacting safety performance.Originality/value: The study contributes to the body of knowledge in that it develops a conceptual framework consisting of specific technologies in terms of emerging technologies, reveals the impact of such technologies on safety performance and proposes several tools and strategies for enabling effective safety management along the project lifecycle. Industry practitioners may benefit from the framework developed by adopting such technologies to enhance their safety performance on construction projects.

Construction is a hazardous industry. The project-based nature and fragmentation in the industry lead to change and uncertainty requiring special expertise. To handle those, construction firms must develop strategies and action plans along with the experience gained from lessons learned. Among the risks, safety risks are of critical importance leading to accidents. Hence, firms need to strengthen their safety programs, review their strategies for safety management, and develop effective safety training sessions to protect their workers. This study focuses on the success factors promoting safety performance. In this respect, a questionnaire was designed and administered to the Engineering News-Record (ENR) 2020 Top 400 Contractors. The questionnaire data was utilized in conducting a factor analysis to group and name the factors considering the total variance. The analysis of the factors resulted in six-factor groups; namely, project and firm-related factors, demographic factors, practical factors, motivational factors, organizational factors, and human-related factors. Project and firm-related factors were found to be the most essential factor group in terms of promoting the effectiveness of safety training. The results of this study are expected to guide industry practitioners in terms of reviewing and revising their safety training programs.

Purpose: Construction is a risky industry. Therefore, organizations are seeking ways towards improving their safety performance. Among these, the integration of technology into health and safety leads to enhanced safety performance. Considering the benefits observed in using technology in safety, this study aims to explore digital technologies' use and potential benefits in construction health and safety.Design/methodology/approach: An extensive bibliometrics analysis was conducted to reveal which technologies are at the forefront of others and how these technologies are used in safety operations. The study used two different databases, Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus, to scan the literature in a systemic way.Findings: The systemic analysis of several studies showed that the digital technologies use in construction are still a niche theme and need more assessment. The study provided that sensors and wireless technology are of utmost importance in terms of construction safety. Moreover, the study revealed that artificial intelligence, machine learning, building information modeling (BIM), sensors and wireless technologies are trending technologies compared to unmanned aerial vehicles, serious games and the Internet of things. On the other hand, the study provided that the technologies are even more effective with integrated use like in the case of BIM and sensors or unmanned aerial vehicles. It was observed that the use of these technologies varies with respect to studies conducted in different countries. The study further revealed that the studies conducted on this topic are mostly published in some selected journals and international collaboration efforts in terms of researching the topic have been observed.Originality/value: This study provides an extensive analysis of WoS and Scopus databases and an in-depth review of the use of digital technologies in construction safety. The review consists of the most recent studies showing the benefits of using such technologies and showing the usage on a systemic level from which both scientists and practitioners can benefit to devise new strategies in technology usage.

The construction industry is one of the leading industries in the economy of any country. However, the industry is vulnerable to changes and uncertainties, either external or internal, due to its fragmented and dynamic nature. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which first emerged in Wuhan, China in 2019, is considered a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). COVID-19 has quickly spread all over the world resulting in significant social and economic consequences. The main objective of the study is to determine the challenges and opportunities due to the pandemic in the construction industry and to categorize them. Through a review of the existing literature and interviews with construction experts, the challenges and opportunities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic were listed. A questionnaire survey was designed to evaluate them. The principal component analysis (PCA) was utilized to group the identified challenges and opportunities. PCA was conducted with SPSS Version 25.0 software. The most critical challenges of the pandemic were determined as “the requirement of COVID-19 protocols,” “restriction on movement and travel,” “additional safety equipment use,” where the most important opportunities were found as “hygiene programs,” “use of technological tools effectively,” and “BIM-enabled construction.” The research contributes to the body of knowledge in terms of making construction practitioners beware of the main challenges and opportunities along with leading them to act toward change and uncertainty. This study further provides general guidelines and implications for practitioners and policymakers in case of similar outbreaks.

Many production activities contribute to environmental degradation by emitting greenhouse gases. The construction sector, one of the main sectors contributing to a country’s economic growth, also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions (especially CO₂). Concrete, one of the most commonly used materials in this sector, is a source of CO₂ emissions due to its cement content. The purpose of this article is to examine the decoupling status between environmental degradation caused by CO₂ emissions from ready-mixed concrete production and the economic growth of 20 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. This study consists of four stages and three periods. In the first stage, the variables are selected; in the second stage, the data are created; and in the third stage, data analysis is performed. In the final stage, the type of decoupling between economic growth and environmental degradation is separately determined for 20 OECD countries. These stages were completed for the pre-commitment period (2000–2007) of the Kyoto Protocol, the first commitment period (2008–2012), and the second commitment period (2013–2019). According to our findings, during the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, only Switzerland and Belgium achieved absolute decoupling between the environmental degradation caused by CO₂ emissions from concrete production and economic growth.

Sustainability is one of the emerging areas in building construction, and it is widely investigated in terms of bringing sustainable technology into construction. However, one of the biggest challenges in the construction industry is implementing sustainability. Building contractors and construction practitioners mostly struggle with the implementation of sustainability due to the lack of certain parameters that define sustainability. Therefore, this study investigates the factors for effective sustainability implementation to provide industry practitioners with the benefit of the extensive list of parameters when designing their sustainability program. To research the parameters, a questionnaire was designed and administered to construction professionals with wide experience in sustainability implementation. The respondents were asked to evaluate a set of sustainability factors in the economic, social, and environmental domains. This way, the study provides reflections from construction practitioners working on large projects. The findings indicated that Ethical and Relational Factors in economic sustainability, Historical and Social Relations Factors in social sustainability, and Material Usage Factors in environmental sustainability are the most important for effective sustainability implementation. The findings are expected to help construction practitioners understand metrics of sustainability, effectively manage their projects, and successfully implement sustainability with the consideration of proper metrics.