Ontology-based knowledge modeling for automated construction safety checking

Safety management is the most important part of the construction management on building engineering which has dynamic work environment and complicated construction procedure. Safety checking which identifies hazards before they occur is a core process of safety management on construction sites. However, the traditional construction safety checking which is operated by the experienced manager is manual and time-consuming. In order to integrate new technology into the construction safety checking system, a meta model for construction safety checking i.e. CSCOntology (Construction Safety Checking Ontology) has been developed in this paper. This model is formalized using an ontology language, OWL for encoding knowledge over the Web. Safety checking constraints which can extract from construction safety regulation provisions are represented with a rule language, SWRL. Then the construction safety checking processes are implemented in the JESS, a rule engine for the Java platform by transforming OWL knowledge into JESS facts, and SWRL constraints into JESS rules. A real-world example has been demonstrated in Protégé 3.4 beta to show the proposed safety checking process, according to the regulation examples taken from “29 CFR 1926 OSHA Construction Industry Regulations”.