Improving Construction Site Safety by Incident Reporting Through Utilizing Virtual Reality

The construction industry consistently records one of the highest accident rates compared to other occupations, resulting in millions of workers suffering from construction-related injuries such as falls, trips, slips, and other causes. When an accident occurs, it is crucial to generate an incident report that details the causes of the accident, thereby aiding in the prevention of similar incidents in the future. Preparing an incident report requires understanding various factors, such as whether or not the safety protocols were followed, the sequence of events leading up to the accident, proper hazard identification, and the types of injuries sustained. Specific guidelines are also adhered to while preparing reports, which is challenging for young or inexperienced engineers working on construction sites. Virtual reality (VR) offers an excellent solution to this problem by allowing engineers to experience simulated conditions before having to prepare an actual incident report. This study aims to enhance the ability of civil engineers to create accurate incident reports using virtual reality. For the purpose of this study, accident sites were simulated using data from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) incident reports, and scenarios were developed on the Unity platform. Both Civil Engineering students and professionals were asked to assess these virtual site conditions and write incident reports in compliance with OSHA guidelines. The feedback from participants led to the conclusion that virtual reality can significantly improve the accuracy of incident report preparation. Furthermore, its practical implementation on construction sites could offer valuable training opportunities for field engineers.