Assessment of Challenges to the Adoption of IOT for the Safety Management of Small Construction Projects in Malaysia: Structural Equation Modeling Approach

The Internet of Things is a comprehensive system of connected computing devices and sensors that provide extensive data sharing capability for any specific purpose. For the construction industry, the applications of the Internet of Things have been increasing over the past few years, and it is because technology can provide full support to construction projects in attaining significant efficiency. The most critical part of construction products where the internet of things can be adopted is safety management because hundreds of accidents happen every year that result in significant injuries to construction workers and even death in some cases. For small construction projects, the situation is much worse, as there are never enough resources to adopt the latest technology, such as the Internet of Things. This study is structured with the aim of identifying the critical implementation barriers of the internet of things that affect small construction projects in Malaysia specifically. A mixed methodology study design is followed in which, after identifying the implementation barriers of the internet of things from existing literature, they are filtered with expert opinion. A pilot survey was conducted on which exploratory factor analysis was applied to further identify the significant barriers relating to the Internet of Things in small construction projects in Malaysia. A main survey was conducted afterwards, on which the structural equation modelling was done to develop the model involving the final 16 barriers divided into 5 formative constructs. The most critical barriers are found to be related to databases and technology, while the least impact is created by management barriers. Positive theoretical and managerial implications are indicated for future researchers and construction workers, respectively, by which they can improve the implementation of internet of things in small construction projects in Malaysia.