Enhancing construction safety management through edge computing: framework and scenarios

With the increasing complexity of construction activities, timely data collection and analysis become the prerequisites for supporting safety management decisions. However, conventional methods generally use centralized computing platforms, which might encounter challenges such as high latency and resource consumption. The recent development in edge computing brings new opportunities to address these challenges by offloading parts of the computing tasks from the center to the edge. This study thus attempts to develop a comprehensive edge computing framework to enable real-time construction safety management (CSM). Existing architectural frameworks of edge computing are reviewed, based on which an edge computing framework suitable for CSM is proposed. Then, the deployment of the proposed framework is elaborated through three safety management scenarios derived from actual construction projects. This study suggests that edge computing can improve the efficiency and quality of CSM. This study will also inform future studies on exploring the applications of edge computing in other construction management areas.