Engaging Students in OH&S Hazard Identification Through a Game

"Engaging Students in OH&S Hazard Identification Through a Game" examines whether "Trouble Tower," a 30-minute puzzle game for iPad and PC, can improve hazard-recognition training in Construction Induction courses. The motivation rests on the high injury rates in the construction industry and the widespread observation that students find conventional classroom and online safety training disengaging. The game asks players to apply occupational health and safety controls to hazards and shows the consequences of both effective and harmful choices, a design grounded in constructivist, experiential, and flow theories of learning. The study was conducted with students in a TAFE program at RMIT, with a sample of 97 participants, predominantly young men aged 18 to 22, who were assigned to either a training-only control group or a training-plus-game group.

The research combined a transferability photo test, pre- and post-course hazard-recognition assessments, and user experience surveys and interviews with the 24 students who played the game. Players rated enjoyment, engagement, perceived success, and motivation highly, and all 24 completed the game. Most considered it a better learning method than lectures, though responses on sound, interface complexity, and feedback were mixed. Participants also found the game too easy and reported that they relied largely on trial and error rather than deliberate reasoning about control choices, with the control options themselves described as overwhelming.

The central quantitative finding is that no statistically significant difference emerged in hazard-recognition scores, either between pre- and post-tests or between the training-only and training-plus-game groups. The authors attribute this partly to small, self-selected and unequal samples, so the results are best read as descriptive and indicative. The overall conclusion is that the game was well received and perceived as educational, but its effect on transferable hazard-recognition skills remains unproven and warrants further controlled research.