CAPITALIZING ON EXPECTANCY IN GAME-BASED LEARNING FOR IMPROVED SAFETY

Construction sites are some of the most dangerous workplaces in the world. The construction industry had the most fatalities amongst any private industry in the USA in 2023. Traditional safety training methods have proven ineffective in improving safe behavior among construction workers. This research evaluates the effectiveness of game-based learning in improving the hazard identification performance of users. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining objective measures like hazard identification index and eye-tracking data with subjective questionnaires. Participants completed pre- and post-training hazard identification tests using images of real construction sites. The OSHA hazard identification tool was used as the training intervention. This research also examined the impact of task interruptions on hazard identification performance, simulating real-world distractions on construction sites. The results demonstrated that game-based training significantly improved participants' hazard identification ability with significant improvements in the identification of fall and struck-by hazards. Construction sites also have a notoriously high number of distractions like noise, weather, cell phone texts etc. To study this, interruption tasks that mimic a phone call were introduced in the hazard identification test. The results showed that interruptions negatively impacted performance, highlighting the need to consider workplace distractions in safety training. Additionally, participants' knowledge retention one year after the training was tested and the results showed that participants were able to retain their improved hazard identification performance in the retention test. Finally, emotional response analysis using participants' facial expressions during training was conducted using Facereader technology. The results showed that greater arousal during training was associated with better hazard identification performance while greater anger was associated with inferior performance. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on innovative safety training methods and provides practical recommendations for safety training programs. Future research directions could include exploring the transfer of skills to real-world environments and developing adaptive training systems based on individual performance data.