Hazard recognition and the accurate perception of safety risk are fundamental to the success of any safety program. When hazards remain unrecognized, or the associated safety risk is underestimated, the likelihood of catastrophic and unexpected injuries dramatically increase. Unfortunately, recent research has found that a large number of hazards in construction remain unrecognized. Likewise, past studies have demonstrated that safety risk is widely underestimated within construction. To improve hazard recognition and the accurate perception of safety risk, employers adopt a wide variety of training programs. However, the prevalent use of ineffective and unengaging training methods have significantly impeded training efforts in construction. The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of safety training on two objective training outcomes: hazard recognition performance and safety risk perception. The research objectives were accomplished by gathering empirical data from 51 active project...

Both hazard recognition and safety risk perception are fundamental to effective safety management. When construction hazards remain unrecognized or the associated safety risk remains unperceived, the likelihood of human errors and injuries increases. Unfortunately, recent studies have shown that a large number of construction hazards remain unrecognized in typical workplaces. Likewise, past research has demonstrated that safety risk is widely underestimated in construction. Therefore, to improve safety performance, a proper understanding of factors that influence hazard recognition and safety risk perception is vital. Toward achieving this goal, the objective of the current study is to evaluate the effect of distractions—which are ubiquitous in construction environments—on the hazard recognition performance and safety risk perception of workers. The study goals are accomplished through an experimental effort involving 70 construction workers representing various specialty trades. The workers were randomly assigned to a distracted or undistracted condition, and their hazard recognition performance and safety risk perception levels were measured using construction case images. The study findings revealed that the distracted workers recognized a smaller proportion of hazards compared with undistracted workers. However, there were no significant differences in the level of perceived safety risk between the two groups. A closer examination of the data revealed that the safety risk perception levels for the undistracted workers are positively related to their hazard recognition performance. In other words, when undistracted workers recognize a larger proportion of hazards, they also perceive higher levels of safety risk. However, no such relationship was observed for the distracted workers, suggesting that the perceived risk was unrelated to or not dependent on their hazard recognition performance. The findings suggest that workplace distractions can adversely affect hazard recognition, safety risk perception, and safety performance. Given that constuction workers are already exposed to numerous distractors in typical workplaces, contractors seeking to introduce emerging technologies such as drones, mobile devices, and smart robots must be cognizant of their potential distracting effects. The current study represents the first empirical effort investigating the effect of workplace distraction on construction hazard recognition and safety risk perception.

Most construction safety activities focus on managing identified hazards. Hazards that remain unrecognized, and as a result unmanaged, can potentially result in catastrophic and unexpected injuries. Therefore, proper hazard recognition is foundational to the success of any safety program. However, recent research has revealed that a large proportion of construction hazards remain unrecognized in construction projects. To improve hazard recognition performance, employers provide their workers with safety and hazard recognition training. Despite these efforts, desirable levels of hazard recognition have not been achieved, and the anticipated return on investment (ROI) from training has not been attained. Such failures in training efforts are partly because knowledge acquired through training programs is often not transferred or applied in the workplace. Subsequently, training efforts do not alter work practices or behavior once workers return to the field. Other reasons for training failure include ...

The need to build more facilities has intensified the inherited adverse impacts of the construction industry on the triple bottom lines of sustainability (i.e., people, planet, and profit). The current practice of sustainability in the construction industry is far from reaching the targeted green goals. In order to foster these endeavors, this study aims to explore sustainable construction barriers in the United States. To achieve the objective, first, 12 sustainability barriers were identified based on an excessive and comprehensive literature review and solicitation of experts’ opinions to validate the barriers. Next, a questionnaire survey was developed and distributed among 135 industry professionals to evaluate the relative importance of factors. To offer a practical solution, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the data and find the most effective barriers. The results show that four major barriers, including (1) pre-construction constraints, (2) managerial constraints, (3) legislative constraints, and (4) financial and planning constraints are the most influential challenges that the industry faces to foster sustainable construction. Practical solutions are suggested to tackle sustainable construction barriers. The findings of this study are beneficial to the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry members along with owners and policymakers.

Construction sites continue to operate despite inclement weather, exposing workers to unpleasant working circumstances that can lead to various physical and mental health challenges. A thorough literature review yielded 21 challenges for hot weather conditions such as heat stroke, kidney disease, heat cramps, anxiety, depression and 20 challenges for cold weather conditions like asthma, frostbite, Musculo-Skeletal disorders, hallucination. Workers vulnerable to hot and cold weather based on demographic characteristics were identified. The study also provides 27 strategies to address the challenges experienced in hot and cold weather conditions. Some of these include ensuring that workers stay hydrated, scheduling sufficient rest periods, and allowing workers to self-pace. The results of this study will help construction decision-makers and project managers understand the difficulties faced by a field workforce who labors in extreme working conditions on construction sites and will facilitate adoption of strategies that can prevent weather-related physical and mental health problems.

The construction industry is among the most hazardous occupations. Workers are expected to fulfill physically and mentally demanding tasks in construction environments while they are exposed to numerous safety hazards. The dynamic and demanding nature of construction activities makes workers vulnerable to experience levels of fatigue on a daily basis. Fatigue is ubiquitous among construction workers and has been frequently cited as an underlying cause of the accidents. Despite the high rates of accidents in construction, research has shown that most of them can be prevented if workers identify hazards and perceive the associated safety risks. However, the impact of fatigue on the two leading safety indicators (i.e., hazard recognition and safety risk perception) has not been empirically studied before in the construction industry context. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by investigating the impact of fatigue on construction workers’ hazard recognition and safety risk perception. To achieve the research goals, 135 construction workers were recruited to participate in the study. A validated safety instrument and three subjective fatigue assessment scales were used to measure safety performance and fatigue levels of the participants, respectively. The analysis of the data showed statistically significant correlation ($p\text{-}\text{value}<0.001$ ) between fatigue and hazard recognition ($r_p=-0.58$ ) and fatigue and safety risk perception ($r_p=-0.51$ ). Linear regressions associated 37% of the variability in hazard recognition and 28% of safety risk perception with elements of fatigue. The findings revealed that among all aspects of fatigue, intershift recovery and acute fatigue have the most profound impacts on the safety performance of workers. A novel model was developed and tested to explain how construction workers’ safety performance (i.e., hazard recognition and safety risk perception) are impacted by elements of fatigue. This study offers practical recommendations for construction professionals and practitioners to control and mitigate the undesirable influences of fatigue on workers. These recommendations are presented as the hierarchy of fatigue interventions in the order of most effective to the least effective including (1) Elimination, (2) Substitution, (3) Engineering Solutions, (4) Administrative Interventions, and (5) Personal Assistive Equipment (PAE).