Impact of the COVID-19: Hazard Recognition Performance and Safety Risk Perception Among Construction Workers

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries in the U.S., and COVID-19 has introduced additional safety risks to the workers' health and safety. Fatalities in the construction industry are higher compared to others. Researchers have identified construction workers' poor hazard recognition performance and safety risk perception as contributing factors to the high rates of accidents and occupational fatalities in construction. However, the long-term impact of COVID-19 as an emerging safety risk on construction workers' hazard recognition performance and safety risk perception has not been investigated. This study aimed to explore the long-term impact of COVID-19 on construction workers' hazard recognition and safety risk perception. The goal is to see if COVID-19 has the same effect on workers' performance as a physical injury and how their performance changes after experiencing COVID-19. Seventy-six workers were interviewed during the study. Each participant was shown four scenarios from a predefined 16 preset construction scenario. T-test was performed to test the research hypotheses between groups (group 1: workers who have not tested positive for COVID-19 and group 2: workers who tested positive for COVID-19). For the first hypothesis, data analysis showed that COVID-19 did not affect the construction workers' hazard recognition as there was no statistical difference in the test. However, when the safety risk perception score was analyzed, it was observed that there was a statistical difference between the safety risk perception of the two groups. COVID-19 positive workers tend to perceive higher safety risks. The study aimed to aid in the improvement of the construction safety environment across the U.S. and help construction safety managers and trainers to have a better idea about the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the safety performance of the workers.