Automated Information Retrieval for Hazard Identification in Construction Site H. Kim 1 , H. S. Lee 2 , M. Park 3 , B. Choi 4 1 Ph.D. Student, Dept. of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Seoul National Univ., 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. PH +82-2-880- 8311; FAX +82-2-887-8923; email: verserk13@naver.com 2 Prof., Dept. of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Seoul National Univ., 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. PH +82-2-880-8311; FAX +82-2-887-8923; email: hyunslee@snu.ac.kr 3 Prof., Dept. of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Seoul National Univ., 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. PH +82-2-880-8311; FAX +82-2-887-8923; email: mspark@snu.ac.kr 4 M.S Course Student, Dept. of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Seoul National Univ., 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. PH +82-2-880-8311; FAX +82-2-887-8923; email: mill45@snu.ac.kr ABSTRACT The repetitive occurrence of similar accident in construction disasters is one of the prevalent features. Similar accident cases provide direct information for determining the risk of scheduled activities and planning safety countermeasure. Researchers have developed many systems in order to retrieve and use past accident cases. Although the developed systems have a clear and limited target, most of them were developed under a retrieval methods based on ad-hoc systems which can cause inconvenience for users in using the retrieval system. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes an automated information retrieval system that can search for and provide similar accident cases. The retrieval system extracts building information modeling objects and composes a query set by combining BIM objects with a project management information system. Based on the results of this study, the users can excessively reduce query generation. Furthermore, they can easily avoid risks by receiving similar past accident cases that can happen while they work. INTRODUCTION Despite the enormous efforts made in regards to safety, the construction industry has had a poor record of preventing accidents. One of the noticeable characteristics of construction accidents is repetitive occurrences (Abudayyeh et al. 2003). Accident cases are the strongest stimuli in safety management and raising laborer’s awareness for safety. This is due to the knowledge from past accidents being directly related to the prevention of future accidents and laborers’ raised safety awareness (Lindberg et al. 2010). 897 Computing in Civil Engineering (2013) Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by University of Michigan on 08/30/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.