What does this research mean for the field?

Malaysian construction occupational safety and health (OSH) research has shifted from reactive accident reporting to proactive governance and digital safety since 2020, though the knowledge base remains highly fragmented across distinct research streams. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.SYNTHESIS. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To systematically map the intellectual evolution, thematic structure, and future directions of construction occupational safety and health research across two decades.

September 2, 2026Journal of Engineering Design and Technology

Mapping two decades of construction OSH research in Malaysia: bibliometric evidence of thematic evolution and knowledge fragmentation

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Authors

CIChe Khairil Izam Che IbrahimUniversiti Teknologi MARA RRReem Abd El RahmanUniversiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah NANor Haslinda AbasSultan Idris Education University

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Implication

Bibliometric review reveals a transition toward proactive governance and digital risk management in construction safety literature, highlighting persistent fragmentation across key domains.

Key Points

To systematically map the intellectual evolution, thematic structure, and future directions of construction occupational safety and health research across two decades.
Conducted a bibliometric review of 224 Scopus-indexed publications published between 2006 and March 2026.
Performed publication performance analysis alongside science mapping and thematic keyword clustering to evaluate growth, citation impact, and conceptual structures.
Identified an acceleration in research output post-2020, transitioning from reactive accident documentation toward proactive concerns with digital safety, upstream design prevention, and duty-holder accountability.
Uncovered six dominant thematic clusters, including BIM-enabled safety management, behavioral compliance, industry governance, upstream prevention, duty-holder roles, and technology-enabled risk evidence.
Demonstrated persistent fragmentation across technical, behavioral, governance, and architectural design research streams despite increasing alignment with national safety regulations.

Cite This Study

Ibrahim et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a97e2c5c562ede874ec7185 https://doi.org/10.1108/jedt-05-2026-0325

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Implication

Bibliometric review reveals a transition toward proactive governance and digital risk management in construction safety literature, highlighting persistent fragmentation across key domains.

Mapping two decades of construction OSH research in Malaysia: bibliometric evidence of thematic evolution and knowledge fragmentation

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Mapping two decades of construction OSH research in Malaysia: bibliometric evidence of thematic evolution and knowledge fragmentation

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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