Assessment of Nonverbal Safety Training for Construction Novices: A Comparative Experiment in Japan and Malaysia

Abstract

Safety and health training for construction novices is becoming increasingly important to prevent work-related accidents in construction projects, both in developed and developing countries. A comparative experiment was conducted on 100 undergraduates studying the basics of construction management in Japan and Malaysia to compare the effectiveness of the teaching methods among the students in both countries. Statistical analyses were performed on Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 16.0. Although basic safety training, such as the use of personal protective equipment and lifting operations, can be emphasised verbally or nonverbally during regular training, safety training related to high-risk activities, such as work at height (WaH), was more effective when conducted through nonverbal methods. According to the study’s findings, the nonverbal method resulted in fewer variations in understanding among students than the verbal method, regardless of their nationality, as construction novices scored higher points after nonverbal training. The study concludes that nonverbal safety and health training methods are effective for training construction novices. It is recommended that governments or relevant authorities design nonverbal safety teaching content related to construction safety based on the prevailing conditions in the country.