Developing hazard recognition skill among the next-generation of construction professionals

Globally, a large number of safety hazards remain unrecognised in construction workplaces. These unrecognised safety hazards are also likely to remain unmanaged and can potentially cascade into unexpected safety incidents. Therefore, the development of hazards recognition skill – particularly among the next-generation of construction professionals – is vital for injury prevention and safe work-operations. To foster the development of such skill, the current investigation examined the effect of administering a hazard recognition intervention to students seeking to enter the construction workforce. First, prior to introducing the intervention, the pre-intervention hazard recognition skill of the participating students was measured. Next, the intervention that included a number of programme elements was introduced. The programme elements included (1) visual cues to promote systematic hazard recognition, (2) personalised hazard recognition performance feedback, (3) visual demonstration of common hazard recognition search weaknesses, and (4) diagnosis of hazard search weaknesses using metacognitive prompts. Finally, the post-intervention skill demonstrated by the student participants was measured and compared against their pre-intervention performance. The results suggest that the intervention was effective in improving the hazard recognition skill demonstrated by the next-generation of construction professionals. The observed effect was particularly prominent among those that demonstrated relatively lower levels of skill in the pre-intervention phase. The research also unveiled particular impediments to hazards recognition that the participants experienced.