A multi-media safety advisor for construction work using expert knowledge

New and proposed legislation is having a major effect on the management of health and safety within the construction industry. When carrying out and planning activities on-site, considerable expertise is required to ensure that the work is done safely, and a thorough knowledge and understanding of the relevant legislative documentation is necessary. A prototype computer system has been built to assist those responsible for safety management. As much of the knowledge about safe working is stored as expertise within the heads of experienced engineers, a framework has been constructed which allows this expertise to be encoded as rules within a knowledge-based system. Where the actions that may be taken are constrained by legislation, rules are placed within the knowledge-base to reflect these constraints. Advice is presented to the user in the most appropriate format. A textual `Advice Notes´ document is generated during interaction with the system, which the user may print out and take away with him. Colour graphic images are presented to the user to support the textual material, and to assist the user in answering the system´s questions. Advice is also given in the form of video clips which the user is directed to as necessary. And which can be viewed independently of the computer system. As the body of legislative documents form a valuable source of safety advice. These documents are included within the system in a hypertext viewing environment. The documents may be viewed independently of the advisory system, though the knowledge-base does contain links to them, so the user can be presented with the relevant page of any document during the advice session