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The Effectiveness of Traditional Tools and Computer-Aided Technologies for Health and Safety Training in the Construction Sector: A Systematic Review
Yifan Gao, Vicente Gonzalez, Tak Wing Yiu
TL;DR
Construction safety training approaches have been insufficiently evaluated despite serious worker safety risks. This paper conducts a systematic review of traditional tools and computer-aided technologies, finding stronger statistical support for traditional tools and promising but less solid evidence for computer-aided technologies.
Problem
The effectiveness of traditional tools and computer-aided technologies for construction health and safety training has not been sufficiently established, despite rising workplace accidents and safety risks.
Method
The paper conducts a systematic review of existing construction health and safety training studies involving traditional tools and computer-aided technologies.
Results
Traditional tools have sufficient statistical evidence supporting effectiveness, while computer-aided technologies have supporting evidence but require more solid evidence.
Takeaways & Limitations
The review proposes a theoretical framework based on its findings to help future studies examine training effectiveness and usability systematically.
Takeaways & Limitations
More solid evidence is required to support the effectiveness of computer-aided technologies, and identified limitations include limited representation of actual workplace situations.
Abstract
from arXiv · showhide
For workers, the exposure to on-site hazards can result in fatalities and serious injuries. To improve safety outcomes, different approaches have been implemented for health and safety training in the construction sector, such as traditional tools and computer-aided technologies (e.g., serious games and virtual reality). However, the effectiveness of these approaches has been barely explored. In order to bridge this gap, a systematic review of existing studies was conducted. Unlike previous review studies in this field that focused on uncovering the technology characters and challenges, this study mainly evaluated the effectiveness of training using traditional tools and computer-aided technologies on the well-being of individuals. Measures of the effectiveness included knowledge acquisition, unsafe behaviour alteration, and injury rate reduction. Results indicated that: 1. the effectiveness of traditional tools is sufficiently supported by statistical evidence; and 2. the use of computer-aided technologies has evidence to support its effectiveness, but more solid evidence is required to support this statement. It was also found that the overall performance of computer-aided technologies is superior in several technical aspects compared to traditional tools, namely, representing actual workplace situations, providing text-free interfaces, having better user engagement, and being more cost-efficient. Finally, using the systematic review findings, a theoretical framework is proposed as a potential solution to help future research in this field systematically examine the effectiveness and usability of their approaches. This framework is theoretical in nature and requires further validation. A further study is therefore proposed to test and validate this framework.
1. Introduction
The construction sector faces serious health and safety challenges, including rising accidents and high occupational injury and fatality burdens. Traditional training approaches have been criticized as unsuitable for some construction workers, motivating interest in computer-aided technologies.
- Health and Safety Situations: Workplace accidents are increasing, contributing to higher injury rates, reduced productivity, and greater compensation demands.
- Health and Safety Situations: Many frontline workers receive inadequate safety training, with 67.82% of injured construction workers in Taiwan reportedly lacking such training.
- Tools for Health and Safety Training: A Sketch: Traditional tools include lectures, toolbox talks, videos, text-based handouts, computer-based instruction, and hands-on training.
- Tools for Health and Safety Training: A Sketch: Construction workers may lose interest in memorizing safety regulations and prefer more proactive learning styles, while traditional tools have been considered unsuitable by some researchers.
- Tools for Health and Safety Training: A Sketch: Computer-aided technologies such as computer-generated simulations, serious games, and virtual reality were pursued as interactive and portable training solutions.
2. Method
The study used a systematic review to examine whether traditional tools and computer-aided technologies produce positive changes in construction safety behaviour, knowledge, or injury rates. It searched interdisciplinary databases and applied staged screening and minimum inclusion criteria to eligible studies.
- Research Questions: The review framed two questions about whether traditional tools and computer-aided technologies improve safety behaviour, knowledge, or injury rates.
- Search Strategy: Searches covered traditional training, simulations, serious games, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality in construction safety training.
- Search Strategy: The interdisciplinary search used Web of Science, Taylor & Francis Online, Scopus, and ScienceDirect, supplemented by recommended and highly cited references.
- Search Strategy: The search yielded 569 traditional-tool hits, 132 computer-generated-simulation or serious-game hits, and 109 virtual-reality hits before duplicate removal.
- Publication Screening: Two screening rounds reviewed titles and abstracts, then assessed full texts against prototype-development and experimental-implementation criteria.
- Included Studies: The final evidence base comprised 18 traditional-tool articles, 17 computer-generated-simulation or serious-game articles, and nine virtual-reality articles.
3. Results
The review examined traditional tools and computer-aided technologies for construction health and safety training, assessing knowledge, behaviour, and injury outcomes. Traditional training had stronger statistical support, while computer-aided approaches showed promising but less conclusive effectiveness evidence and several technical advantages.
- 3.1.1 General Findings: 18 traditional-tool studies from 1986–2016 were examined across sample size, data collection method, assessment factor, and effectiveness.The studies came from 12 journals and were summarized in Tables 1 and 2.
- 3.1.1 General Findings: 15 traditional-tool studies used pre-post analysis, while three used control-treatment contrast analysis to evaluate training effectiveness.Both methods assessed differences in knowledge acquisition, behaviour alteration, or injury rate reduction.
- 3.2.1 General Findings: The computer-aided-technology review included 26 studies: 17 on computer-based games or serious games and nine on virtual reality.The review asked whether computer-aided training changed behaviour, knowledge, or injury rates.
- 3.2.1 General Findings: Computer-aided technologies simulated workplace situations ranging from risk identification to risk control.The reviewed applications included computer-based games, serious games, and virtual reality.
- 3.2.1 General Findings: 12 of 26 computer-aided-technology studies provided valid effectiveness data, while 11 primarily evaluated usability.Among the game-related studies, 10 concerned serious games and seven concerned computer-based games.
- 3.2.2 Effectiveness: Virtual-reality training increased health-and-safety knowledge by 35.3%, compared with 14.3% for traditional training.For the VR group, test scores rose from 9.67 to 13.08; for the traditional group, scores rose from 9.77 to 11.17, with p < 0.05 reported for each before–after comparison.
4. Discussion
CAT training is supported by some evidence of effectiveness, but its advantages over traditional tools depend on the evaluated technical aspect and available comparative evidence.
- CAT effectiveness has supporting evidence, but more solid evidence is still required.
- Traditional training is limited in representing actual workplace situations and hazardous scenes.Workers reported differences between training and real construction sites, whose conditions vary rapidly.
- Traditional training relies heavily on text, creating difficulties for workers with low English proficiency or literacy.A Hong Kong study reported difficulties reading safety materials and communicating during safety meetings.
- CAT can address these limitations through close-to-reality virtual environments, visual aids, and reduced reliance on text.A gaming approach was preferred to lectures by second-language English learners because it used few text-based materials.
- CAT approaches may promote engagement through presence, flow, and character identification, although this evidence includes research beyond construction.An aviation-safety study reported better engagement for a CAT treatment group than for a traditional-training control group.
- CAT is reported as more powerful than traditional tools for workplace representation, text-free interfaces, engagement, and cost efficiency.However, construction-sector evidence did not fully support a CAT engagement advantage because studies used different assumptions.
5. Theoretical framework to Assess CAT
The review proposes a theoretical framework for systematically evaluating CAT training effectiveness and usability. The framework is intended to guide future research but requires further validation.
- Existing CAT studies lack a comprehensive evaluation of effectiveness and usability.
- The proposed framework uses systematic-review findings to establish a clear pathway for evaluating CAT training approaches.Figure 2 presents the theoretical framework, and a pool of usability items is listed in Table 4.
- The framework may help future research generate valid insights into CAT effectiveness and usability.
- The framework is theoretical in nature and requires further validation.
6. Future Research Directions
Future research should account for differences in workers’ injury susceptibility and individual needs when designing CAT training. It should also test and validate the proposed framework.
- Workers differ in their likelihood of experiencing construction injuries.Reported fatality rates varied across age and racial groups in the cited US data.
- Existing training research has largely targeted the general population and given little consideration to individual differences.
- CAT approaches generally use fixed pathways with the same learning contents and experience for each individual.
- More robust designs should address workers who are more susceptible to workplace accidents and better understand individual needs.
- Further study is needed to test and validate the proposed systematic-evaluation framework.
7. Conclusion
This paper systematically reviews the effectiveness of traditional tools and computer-aided technologies for construction health and safety training. Traditional tools have sufficient statistical support, whereas computer-aided technologies show promising evidence but require stronger validation; the paper also proposes a framework for future evaluation.
- A systematic review of existing publications examined the effectiveness of traditional tools and computer-aided technologies for construction health and safety training.
- Traditional tools had sufficient statistical evidence supporting their effectiveness, while computer-aided technologies had supporting evidence but required more solid evidence.
- Computer-aided technologies were considered more powerful than traditional tools for representing workplace situations, providing text-free interfaces, and improving user engagement and cost efficiency.
- The paper proposes a theoretical framework to systematically examine the effectiveness and usability of computer-aided training approaches.
- The proposed framework requires further research to test and validate it.
- Future research should better understand individual needs because fixed learning pathways may not suit everyone, especially accident-prone workers.