Authors: Garrett Young
Faculty Mentor: Denise Simmons
College: Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
Construction and transportation safety training is an essential part of training construction workers. Construction sites can be very hazardous, so being knowledgeable about how to remain safe is critical for those working on site. The current training methods utilize traditional classroom settings as well as online courses to convey the material for a safety class. Although the current training may be satisfactory under federal regulation, it can be further optimized to increase the effectiveness of the training as well as shorten the duration of training. An analysis of the National Highway Institute’s safety training shows that the majority of instructor-led courses take multiple days and require participants to travel for the class. Their web-based courses are useful for reducing the amount of time it takes to complete a training course. That being said, integrating virtual reality into construction safety training may be a better solution to optimizing safety training. One of the challenges of effective training is the uniqueness of different construction sites. Virtual reality simulations can model each site, giving trainees the knowledge necessary for the construction site they are currently working on. We aim to discover how virtual reality can enhance the current training of construction safety.
This research seems pretty interesting and I am certainly an advocate for implementing more technology into different types of education. I was wondering how far you would go to simulate the construction site for teaching. Would there be wind and traffic? Can you create situations that test the worker’s problem solving skills and knowledge of safe practices?
Very interesting research. I see you mentioned the importance of participants’ active engagement in Virtual Reality. I wonder if you have any suggestions for increasing participants’ engagement and attention in the training.
Based on the study you conducted, where can visualization technology be implemented in safety training?
In considering how you respond to the question above, what would be gained by changing to the use of visualization technology?
In your Future Research, what steps/methods would you take to explore implementation?
Good job with the poster, Garrett.
Be sure you look at the video and poster of other researchers.
Liked the poster, clear easy to follow. Nice!