Effect of expert hazard identification trajectory on construction workers' safety education: Evidence from an eye-tracking experiment

[Objective] Most accidents in the construction industry are caused by hazards that remain unrecognized due to inexperience and inattentiveness. Novice workers have difficulty learning how to quickly and accurately determine the source of a hazard and avoid it; thus, it is necessary to develop a dynamic hazard identification process-assisted education pattern. Eye-movement modeling examples (EMMEs) are videos of gaze replays of hazard identification trajectory by an expert with a verbal explanation. [Methods] This study constructed the EMMEs of hazard identification by an expert to explore the mechanism of its influence on workers' safety education at different experience levels. We created eight virtual construction sites for hazard identification testing, which mainly included falls, collapses, electric shocks, lacerations, explosions, and unsafe actions. A participant's task was to search for hazards, i.e., to visually inspect construction site scenarios and determine where a safety accident might occur. An eye tracker was used to collect the search patterns of experienced and novice workers before and after EMME training. Eye movement data were collected from 14 novice workers and 10 experienced workers. The study followed a 2×2 mixed-group design with between-subject factor experience (experienced vs. novice workers) and a within-subject factor case (before vs. after EMME training). Hazard identification accuracy, task completion time, and sequence standardization were used as indicators to measure the identification performance of the participants before and after EMME intervention. [Results] Herein, a t-test was used to evaluate the difference between the hazard identification performances of novice and experienced workers, and the interaction effect was used to test the moderating effect of EMMEs on prior experience and hazard identification performance. The main results were as follows: (1) Participants with EMME intervention performed better at hazard identification and showed higher hazard identification accuracy, shorter task completion time, and higher sequence standardization after EMME training. This finding confirmed that instructions comprising EMMEs effectively improved construction safety education. (2) The hazard identification performance of experienced workers was better than that of novice workers in the pretest; compared to novice workers, experienced workers identified more hazards in less time with more standard sequences before EMME training. The experienced workers consistently inspected laborers first, then the equipment or environment, and finally, the entrance. Novice workers typically inspected the hazards in the same order but with a less consistent scan path. (3) The EMME-based safety education mode had the expertise reversal effect. Participants with rich work experience showed insignificant improvement in performance after EMME training, while novice workers benefited far more from EMME intervention than experienced workers. [Conclusions] Our results demonstrate the potential of EMMEs to indirectly teach strategic hazard identification sequences and contribute to deeper safety education, particularly for workers with limited work experience. This study has educational importance as it provides new evidence of the potential of eye-tracking technology as an indirect instruction tool. © 2024 Press of Tsinghua University. All rights reserved.