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Pioneering Excellence in Quality, Environmental, Safety & Health Management: Sunway Property Transforms OHS with Autodesk Construction Cloud

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Key Benefits:

  • Transformed from reactive to proactive safety management, identifying and mitigating risks early on starting from the design stage.
  • Drove and led the new Occupational Safety and Health (Construction Design Management) Regulations in Malaysia, leading to full compliance. This has culminated into Sunway being the receipts of the prestigious National Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) Award in November 2024.
  • Centralised quality, environmental, safety & health management, document control, and collaboration across all projects with more than 1,800 monthly active users.

  • ACC is supporting nearly 120 active projects across the group level, including Sunway Property and Sunway Construction, driving consistency and accountability across Sunway operations.

Sunway Group has been a cornerstone in shaping Malaysia's urban landscape, recognised for its longstanding commitment to sustainable development and community building. 

Sunway Property, the property arm of Sunway Group, goes beyond merely building and selling properties. As a Master Community Developer, they embrace a "with you for generations" philosophy that ensures the long-term safety and well-being of their communities throughout the entire property lifecycle. This deep-rooted commitment to quality, environment, safety, and health (QESH) has driven Sunway Property to continuously seek innovative solutions that elevate industry standards.

Moving from reactive to proactive OH&S

Even for an industry leader like Sunway Property, traditional methods of occupational health and safety (OH&S) management presented inherent limitations. Relying on manual, paper-based processes for risk assessments, documentation, and compliance checks was cumbersome and inefficient. More importantly, this approach often led to reactive problem-solving, where the team addressed safety issues only after they manifested on-site or during operations.

The introduction of Malaysia’s new Construction Design Management (CDM) Regulation in 2024 further highlighted the need for a transformative shift. This regulation imposed stringent requirements on developers to identify and mitigate safety risks from the earliest design stages, a process far more complex than previous standards. 

Sunway Property recognised this new regulation not as a constraint, but as an opportunity to redefine safety standards within the industry. They envisioned a future where safety was embedded from conception, ensuring properties were not only aesthetically pleasing and functional but inherently safe for construction, operation, and maintenance throughout their entire lifespan.

This proactive vision set Sunway Property a cut above the rest in an industry often slow to adopt new technologies, with action typically driven only by mandatory compliance.

Autodesk Construction Cloud as the catalyst for Construction Design Management (CDM)

The organisation embarked on a digitalisation journey, choosing Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) as their foundational platform. The decision was driven by ACC's ability to provide a seamless, centralised environment for all project data and workflows, a critical factor for a company managing numerous projects with diverse stakeholders. "Our main goal is that everything has to be seamless," states Khadijah Hussin, Head, Centre of Excellence - Quality, Environmental, Safety & Health. "We didn’t want multiple systems and assume they will seamlessly integrate or communicate with one another."

The implementation focused on leveraging ACC's core modules — Files, Issues, Sheets, and Forms — to digitise their CDM workflows. This involved moving away from fragmented data silos and integrating all relevant information within ACC, from initial design drawings to comprehensive risk assessments. The platform’s ability to integrate drawings directly allowed the safety team to actively participate in the design stage, a significant departure from their previous reactive role.

 

Construction Design Management (CDM) workflow within Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC)

A key aspect of their ACC implementation was the development of a digital process for design risk assessment, aligning with the new CDM regulation’s emphasis on proactive risk identification and mitigation. This involved developing a framework that would enable designers to identify potential hazards and "design out" risks early in the project lifecycle.

Using ACC, users can create forms to consolidate status updates for each stage of the CDM process. Subsequently, relevant files can be progressively uploaded and updated into a single repository to ease of access and version control, inclusive of drawings essential for risk assessment. Any identified risks are then assessed and incorporated into the drawing together with a risk report. This allows stakeholders to update relevant documents, as well as drawings after changes are made to address the identified risks, showcasing a cyclical and iterative workflow focused on continuous updates and risk management.

Hussin emphasises, "What we’re aiming for is to apply the risk mitigation measures, but earlier in the process — higher up the project value chain. Ultimately, our goal is to address risks right from the design stage, where the impact can be most effectively controlled."

Sunway also leverages ACC's data connector to extract project data, which is then used to build custom dashboards. These dashboards provide valuable insights for project monitoring and strategic decision-making, allowing management to quickly assess risk levels and compare project performance.

Non-Conformance Report (NCR) dashboard for monitoring of non-conformities, allowing safety and quality issues to be addressed in a timely manner

Consolidating all project data onto a single platform also supports the safety team’s goal of preventing previous design errors from resurfacing in later projects. This builds on its ongoing objective of ensuring designs at Sunway Property are practical and safe from the outset.

CDM Dashboard to monitor organization-wide project risks that have yet to be addressed, allowing for easier identification of known risks in the interim stages of Construction & Design Risk Management process

Creating a foundation for better safety and project management

The scale of this transformation is significant. Sunway Property currently manages over 120 active projects, with approximately 1,800 active users across various departments. ACC serves as the single source of truth, ensuring consistency and accountability across all operations, including projects managed by third-party contractors within their portfolio.

The implementation has fostered a more proactive quality, environmental, and safety & health culture across the organisation. While initial pushback from employees accustomed to traditional methods was expected, extensive engagement and tailored training programs helped overcome resistance.

The strategic adoption of ACC and the proactive approach to Construction Design Management culminated in a monumental achievement for Sunway Property last year. The organisation won the prestigious National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) Award. This national recognition is a testament to their pioneering efforts in occupational health and safety.

Sunway Property was the winner of the NCOSHaward in Malaysia in 2024

The organisation’s commitment to safety extends beyond compliance; it is ingrained in their "with you for generations" philosophy. By managing properties throughout their entire lifecycle, they are encouraged to create designs for long-term safety and ease of maintenance, reducing rectification and maintenance costs in the long run.

Sunway Property’s focus on maintaining occupational health and safety standards is affirmed by their attainment of the ISO 45001 certification in 2023. This focus on safety continues to this day, with Sunway Property actively employing the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) approach in their work, where ACC is an essential element. By facilitating seamless risk reviews, boosting collaboration among stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle, and enabling critical safety records to be retained within the system for future reference, the use of ACC underpins the organisation’s commitment towards continuous improvement in safety management.

By embracing ACC, the organisation has not only achieved national recognition for their commitment to safety but has also laid a robust digital foundation for the next generation of property development in Malaysia and beyond. Their journey exemplifies how technology, coupled with a forward-thinking vision, can transform an entire industry.