Optimization-Based and Optimization-Linked Decision Methods for Building Construction Safety: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Building construction sites are dynamic systems in which safety decisions interact with time, cost, productivity, equipment movement, and spatial constraints. This systematic review examines how building-construction-stage safety is represented in optimization-based and optimization-linked decision studies published between 1 January 2016 and 30 June 2026. A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020-informed workflow used searches of the Web of Science Core Collection and IEEE Xplore, supplemented by Google Scholar and backward-citation checks. Seventy-nine studies met the core inclusion criterion, which required safety to appear as a quantified objective, constraint, evaluation metric, decision criterion, or prediction target. Studies were classified by problem type, safety role, method family, digital integration, and validation evidence. The synthesis identifies a problem-type-dependent formulation pattern: site-layout and scheduling studies mainly optimize safety or exposure objectives; crane/lifting studies distribute safety across constraints, objectives, and decision criteria; risk-decision studies use criteria or metrics; and prediction studies tune models whose targets are safety or risk outcomes. The core corpus is concentrated in site-layout and crane/lifting studies, whereas temporary works, monitoring-to-intervention, and construction-stage emergency response are less often formulated as optimization problems. Strict real-site/field evidence was identified in 7 of 79 studies, with an upper sensitivity bound of 11. Future research should prioritize transparent metrics, benchmarks, field validation, and closed-loop workflows.