Construction Safety Training: Barriers, Challenges, and Opportunities

Much of the construction safety research has focused on designing, developing, and delivering training interventions. However, desirable levels of safety performance have not been achieved; and poor safety performance continues to be a global issue in the construction industry. In fact, evidence suggests that the bulk of training investments do not yield desirable levels of returns or benefits. This is partly because training practices adopted in the industry rarely leverage the best practices for training—that have been identified in the broader research literature. This article presents an overview of the large body of research by summarizing: (1) barriers to effective safety training as experienced in the construction industry, (2) limitations, shortcomings, or weaknesses of widely adopted traditional training programs, and (3) emerging and non-traditional training methods that seek to address current challenges. The research objectives were accomplished by conducting a comprehensive review of the literature across fields, including educational psychology, adult learning, occupational safety, and construction engineering and management. Apart from setting an agenda for future safety training research, it is expected that this review article will serve as a resource for both industry practitioners and the research community that seek to tackle the safety issues experienced in the construction industry.