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RT-431

Best Practices in Safety Communication and Training

Opportunity/Problem Statement

Effective communication is crucial for improving construction safety performance. However, in many projects, safety communication is often neglected due to several key issues. First, current communication practices are frequently too complex for frontline workers to understand. Second, over-communication can dilute the impact of safety messages, making them less effective. Third, many safety messages are perceived as boring, overly lengthy, and lacking in engagement. With the rise of the TikTok generation, construction companies need to rethink their safety communication strategies by diversifying their approaches. Additionally, a lack of proper vocabulary can sometimes result in safety information being misunderstood. Therefore, it is essential to identify best practices to improve safety communication in construction projects.

Research Questions

How can we improve the effectiveness of safety communication in construction projects to better capture attention and change behavior?
  • Identify best practices for communicating safety messages that are engaging, clear, and effective in changing behavior.
  • Explore how to tailor safety messages to meet the specific needs of different audiences.
  • Investigate how technology can be utilized to enhance engagement and understanding in safety communication. Examine the role of AI in improving safety communication processes.
  • Develop strategies for effectively communicating the importance of safety practices to reduce the risk of incidents in construction projects.
The results of this study will help reduce the risk of incidents in construction projects by enhancing the effectiveness of safety communication.

Expected Outcomes

  • Playbook on how to communicate safety-related information on the job site.
  • Videos, cases, flyers, illustrating the proposed strategies

Notes on Scope

  • The RT must clearly state how this project builds on any part of RT-412 (A refresh of CII Zero Accident Techniques). Are they creating a separate tool? Are they proposing anything that contradicts RT-412 outcomes? Are they addressing a recommendation for future work?
  • The primary focus is on the way safety messages are packaged for workers on site (rather than addressing training materials). In this sense, it relates to communications as approached in marketing and psychology (how a message is consumed).
  • Recommendations should address different demographics (age, culture, language, etc)
  • AI is not the focus of the RT.

Preferred Member Background

  • Background in communications
  • Background on project safety / CII safety practices

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