Hazard Recognition and Construction Safety Training Efficacy using Interactive Virtual Reality (VR)

The majority of construction site incidents occur due to a lack of hazard awareness among workers on job sites. This lack of awareness is despite mandatory construction safety training, typically in the form of written content (safety manuals) or of images depicting hazards. To reduce job-site injuries and fatalities, general contractors have started adopting Virtual Reality (VR) to impart safety training to job site personnel. VR safety training can take the form of an immersive simulation comprising potential safety hazards intentionally embedded into a virtual job site; users are required to identify these hazards within a specified time frame with the expectation that they will be more adept at recognizing hazards on an actual job-site, resulting in fewer accidents. This research study seeks to identify the actual impacts of VR on construction safety awareness among participants. The research addresses the following question: Does VR improve hazard recognition awareness? The primary objective is to evaluate participants' performance of past construction safety awareness against present construction safety awareness after receiving VR training. Participants were asked to complete a multiple-choice Qualtrics™ questionnaire. The results of the study showed a statistically significant knowledge gain advantage with respect to hazard recognition and construction safety awareness with the use of interactive, immersive VR over a more conventional and passive safety training method.