Smart and Sustainable Construction: Enablers and Inhibitors to Utilising Technologies for Health and Safety Management

Construction is one of the most dangerous sectors of the economy. Worldwide, construction workers are three times more likely to be killed and twice as likely to be injured than workers in other occupations. It is therefore imperative to improve construction safety science and management with the use of smart technologies for better safety performance. This paper provides a thorough overview of smart safety technologies in the construction industry. The enablers and inhibitors to utilising technologies for sustainable health and safety management (HSM) are examined using a questionnaire survey involving industry practitioners from G7 contractors in Malaysia. The significance of the enablers and inhibitors are prioritised using mean scores. Employing Spearman's correlation test, the association between the enablers and inhibitors are established. The findings explained the important inhibitors such as the lack of consistent standards, interoperability issues, and the need for strong managerial support and staff training. To improve the adoption rate of utilising smart technologies for HSM, deliberate steps must be taken to standardise technologies, improve technology literacy, and win over senior management. © 2025 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.