Abstract
Inexperienced workers have little knowledge and techniques for work and safety in construction sites, so they need safety education to help them understand the dangers and compensate for their lack of experience. This study examines the potential use of a tablet-PC-based safety-training tool created for introductory education of experienced and inexperienced housing construction workers. The tool displays four work situations on a tablet PC. From these, participants choose one dangerous situation and learn dangerous situations by repeating this. Twenty-eight construction workers, 37 carpenter trainees, and 30 inexperienced workers (college students) participated in the safety training, and the tool's effectiveness was compared for the different experience levels. The tool was also evaluated subjectively by carpenter trainees. Carpenter trainees and inexperienced workers learned to recognize dangers in construction sites quickly and correctly, suggesting that the tool effectively facilitated comprehension of curriculum contents. In particular, the percentage of correct answers of inexperienced workers was initially low but finally increased to the same level as that of construction workers. The interface of the tablet-PC-based safety-training tool needed to be improved, but the subjective evaluation (interest in the safety-training tool and subjective learning effects) of the safety-training tool by carpenter trainees was high. These results suggest the potential use of a tablet-PC-based safety-training tool for introductory education.
