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High rate of accidents continue to plague the construction industry. The advancements in safety technologies can ameliorate construction health and safety (H&S). This paper aims to explore the use of emerging technologies as an effective solution for improving safety in construction projects.

Following a detailed literature review, a questionnaire survey was developed encompassing ten technologies for safety management and ten safety enablers using technologies in construction. A total of 133 responses were gathered from Malaysian construction practitioners. The collected quantitative data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analyses to determine the meaningful relationships between the variables.

Findings revealed that the most effective emerging technologies for safety management are: building information modelling (BIM), wearable safety technologies and robotics and automation (R&A). The leading safety enablers are related to improve hazard identification, reinforce safety planning, enhance safety inspection, enhance safety monitoring and supervision and raise safety awareness.

Safety is immensely essential in transforming the construction industry into a robustly developed industry with high safety and quality standards. The adoption of safety technologies in construction projects can drive the industry towards the path of Construction 4.0.

The construction industry has historically been slow to adopt new technology. This study contributes to advancing the body of knowledge in the area of incorporating emerging technologies to further construction safety science and management in the context of the developing world. By taking cognisance of the pertinent emerging technologies for safety management and the safety enablers involved, construction safety can be enhanced using integrated technological solutions.

This paper studies the critical factors from the perspectives of technological quality, personal compatibility and organisational commitment using the technological adoption framework (TAF). The proposed TAF studies the critical factors that influence the intention to use building information modelling (BIM) taking into consideration of the “Perceived Ease of Use (PEU)” and “Perceive Usefulness (PU).”

The proposed study is a quantitative research study using the TAF model and the statistical analysis using “Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).” The questionnaires are developed based on the literature review study and disseminated to the stakeholders in the Malaysian construction industry, including consultants, contractors, and clients. The data collected are analysed using PLS-SEM to identify the correlation between the critical factors influencing BIM adoption and the moderation influence of the PEU and PU towards the “Intention to Use (IU)” BIM.

The data collected from 185 construction industry stakeholders in Malaysia was utilised to develop the structural equation model. The measurement model was analysed in terms of composite reliability, discriminant validity, and collinearity issues. Subsequently, the SEM is analysed, and the findings on the hypothesis on the correlation between the critical factors and the intention to use BIM are examined. The study also examines the mediation effects of the PEU and PU towards the BIM adoption in the Malaysian construction industry.

This research conceptual framework, TAF, is derived from the integration of the existing underpinning theories of the technological adoption model and the technology–organisation–environment framework. This new TAF can be used for the study of new technology adoption. This cross-sectional research study is in line with the “Construction 4.0 Strategic Plan” in Malaysia to establish the current BIM adoption scenario and formulate the framework to promote incentives to promote BIM adoption.