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

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.