Enhancing construction worker hazard recognition through traditional media and immersive virtual environments

Enhancing construction worker hazard recognition through traditional media and immersive virtual environments | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Enhancing construction worker hazard recognition through traditional media and immersive virtual environments Noppadon Jokkaw, Pramual Suteecharuwat, Somjintana Kanangkaew This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8166317/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Falls from heights remain a primary cause of fatalities among construction workers. Despite this, current design standards for fall protection systems, such as guardrails, frequently overlook the psychological aspect of workers, specifically their sense of safety and convenience, which can significantly impact both safety outcomes and on-site productivity. This study aims to introduce methods for assessing construction workers' perceptions to inform the design of guardrails in high-rise projects. Three assessment tools were developed and evaluated: (1) 2D representations of the construction environment, (2) 2D diagrams relating guardrail dimensions to worker anthropometry, and (3) Virtual Reality (VR) models operated within a CAVE Virtual Environment (VE). The performance of these tools was analyzed using the standard deviation (S.D.) and Coefficient of Variation (C.V.) of the workers' responses. Furthermore, a case study was conducted using the most effective tool to select a guardrail design that balances material costs with worker perceptions, utilizing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results indicate that the VR models in the CAVE environment significantly outperformed other methods in accurately measuring worker perceptions. Consequently, the study demonstrates that suitable guardrails can be designed by integrating both economic factors and the subjective needs of construction workers. Hazard Safety Construction workers Immersive Virtual Environment (IVE) Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 22 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 21 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 06 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 03 Dec, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 03 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 03 Dec, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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