Abstract
The focus on worker training to recognize hazards assumes that workers will always recall what constitutes a safe or unsafe situation as well as respond to perceived or actual risks in the same manner. Regardless of the safety training program adopted, the focus on worker training to recognize hazards frequently overlooks the fact that hazard recognition is contextual and subject to individual judgment and experience. In addition, the tendency to work in known hazardous situations will depend on a worker's risk orientation. The specific aim of this research was to develop a methodology to assess worker sensitivity and risk orientation towards unsafe work conditions. The methodology was developed using Signal Detection Theory. The methodology was demonstrated for ironworkers. The methodology proposed in this research provides a guiding framework for training development on how to enhance workers' abilities to identify the boundary beyond which work is no longer safe.
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