Development of virtual reality and stereo-panoramic environments for construction safety training

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1853-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idris Jeelani ◽  
Kevin Han ◽  
Alex Albert
Keyword(s):  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
Management Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hazard Management ◽  
Instructional Training ◽  
Training Protocol ◽  
Hazard Recognition

PurposeWorkers and construction professionals are generally not proficient in recognizing and managing safety hazards. Although valuable, traditional training experiences have not sufficiently addressed the issue of poor hazard recognition and management in construction. Since hazard recognition and management are cognitive skills that depend on attention, visual examination and decision-making, performance assessment and feedback in an environment that is realistic and representative of actual working conditions are important. The purpose of this paper is to propose a personalized safety training protocol that is delivered using robust, realistic and immersive environments.Design/methodology/approachTwo types of virtual environments were developed: (1) Stereo-panoramic environments using real construction scenes that were used to evaluate the performance of trainees accurately and (2) A virtual construction site, which was used to deliver various elements of instructional training. A training protocol was then designed that was aimed at improving the hazard recognition and management performance of trainees. It was delivered using the developed virtual environments. The effectiveness of the training protocol was experimentally tested with 53 participants using a before–after study.FindingsThe results present a 39% improvement in hazard recognition and a 44% improvement in hazard management performance.Originality/valueThis study combines the benefits of using a virtual environment for providing instructional training along with realistic environments (stereo-panoramic scenes) for performance assessment and feedback. The training protocol includes several new and innovative training elements that are designed to improve the hazard recognition and hazard management abilities of the trainees. Moreover, the effectiveness of training in improving hazard recognition and hazard management is measured using specific outcome variables.

Planning, management and administration of HS contents with BIM and VR in construction: an implementation protocol

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vito Getuli ◽  
Pietro Capone ◽  
Alessandro Bruttini
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Construction Safety ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Vr Training ◽  
Training Protocol

PurposeBuilding construction is considered a complex, dynamic and highly hazardous process, which embraces many factors that are potentially dangerous to workers. Many studies proved that the improvement of preventive and proactive measures – dynamically included in the building design, planning and construction – could reduce site accidents as well as increase the site productivity. In this context, process management models and information visualization techniques such as building information modeling (BIM) and virtual reality (VR) seem to be devoted to strongly contribute to the advancement of the current safety management practices. For these reasons, the presented contribution is based on the assumption that a more nuanced approach for construction worker's safety training is warranted and the authors propose a safety training protocol based on BIM-enabled VR activity simulations.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology comprised a safety training protocol based on BIM-enabled VR activity simulations. The protocol addresses three methodological issues: (1) Planning in terms of training typologies and related health and safety contents to be implemented in the VR construction site scenarios; (2) Management regarding the solution to integrate BIM and game technologies to deliver VR training experiences; (3) Administration in terms of definition of standardized rules to define a safety training schedule in a given construction project.FindingsThis work contributes to provide a standardized protocol for a viable integration of BIM and VR technologies for construction safety training in real projects.Practical implicationsThe VR training protocol was applied to a construction project based in Italy that served as case study for the development of the training sessions' contents and their implementation. This case demonstrated the feasibility of the protocol's implementation and pointed out the drawbacks and limitations on which further efforts need to be spent in order to take the proposed protocol from a prototypical stage to a maturity for its larger-scale adoption from the practitioners involved in construction safety training.Originality/valueThe research gives a contribution to reduce the currently existing knowledge gap regarding how BIM and VR can be simultaneously integrated in real projects for construction safety training by using standardized rules to be extensively reproduced in different construction projects. It uses a customized toolkit with a mobile smartphone solution to administer Safety Training Scenarios which increases its portability in construction site compared to PC-based VR solutions.

Corporate governance, product market competition and firm performance: evidence from Iran

Humanomics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Moradi ◽  
Mohammad Ali Bagherpour Velashani ◽  
Mahdi Omidfar
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Board Of Directors ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
Product Market ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Product Market Competition ◽  
Governance Mechanisms ◽  
Management Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Board Of Directors

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of product market competition and corporate governance on firm’s management performance in the Tehran Stock Exchange market. According to the research literature, the governance mechanisms used in this study consist of ownership structure, structure of the board of directors and capital structure. In addition, Herfindahl–Hirschman Index and market size were used to measure the product market competition. Design/methodology/approach This study used one selected sample among the firms in the capital market of Iran from 2004 to 2012. Findings The results of this study indicated that there is a significant relation among the major governance mechanisms (including ownership concentration, independence of the board of directors and debt ratio) and product market competition and management performance. The findings of this study also showed that product market competition is effective on the relation between corporate governance and the performance, and this is what has been ignored in most of the conducted studies. Originality/value In general, the results of this study supported the idea that product market competition is effective on implementation and efficiency of governance mechanisms.

Food safety knowledge, attitudes, practices and training of fast-food restaurant food handlers: a moderation analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold Van Andaya Aquino ◽  
Tyron Yap ◽  
Jean Paolo Gomez Lacap ◽  
Gertrude Tuazon ◽  
Maribel Flores
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
Fast Food Restaurant ◽  
Food Handlers ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Moderation Analysis ◽  
Food Safety Training ◽  
Safety Knowledge

PurposeThe study examines the interrelationships of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices, and the moderating effect of food safety training on the said interrelationships.Design/methodology/approachPredictive-causal was the primary research design used and partial least squares – structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was the statistical technique applied.FindingsResults showed that food safety knowledge significantly and positively influences attitudes towards food safety. It was further revealed that attitudes toward food safety and food safety practices are also significantly and positively related. Moderation analysis indicated that food safety training moderates the significant and positive relationship between attitudes towards food safety and food safety practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study has limitations. First, the unit of analysis is focused on food handlers in fast-food restaurants in Angeles City, Philippines. Other researchers may come up with similar studies on a larger scale – provincial, regional or national. Second, only food safety training as a construct was used as a moderator on the hypothesized relationships of the structural model. Other studies may expand and explore other moderating variables and/or mediating constructs that may affect the said hypothesized relationships.Practical implicationsBased on the present study, food safety knowledge was found to have a huge significant and direct influence on attitudes of fast-food restaurant food handlers towards food safety, as evidenced by the computed effect size. In short, knowledge on food safety is an integral factor when it comes to enhancing food safety attitudes of fast-food restaurant food handlers. When fast-food restaurant food handlers are well-equipped with the right food safety knowledge, they become more aware of the different food safety protocols and other pertinent food safety guidelines and procedures which can lead to favorable food safety attitudes.Social implicationsThe present study highlighted the moderating effect of food safety training on the relationship between attitudes toward food safety and food safety practices. Therefore, regular attendance of food handlers to food safety training is crucial in developing acceptable attitudes toward food safety, which in turn, favorably affect their food safety practices in fast-food restaurants.Originality/valueThe current study utilized PLS-SEM, a second-generation statistical technique, to measure the hypothesized relationships as compared to correlation tests performed by prior studies on the interrelationships of food safety knowledge, attitudes toward food safety and food safety practices. PLS-SEM is suitable for this type of research design – predictive-causal – since this study involves model development and prediction. Furthermore, it employed moderation analysis to measure the moderating effects of food safety training on the identified hypothesized relationships of the structural model. Hence, methodologically, the present study employed new ways and insights in measuring the interrelationships of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices.

scholarly journals Commentary on “promoting positive communication environments: a service evaluation”: the communication partnership as a focus for change

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Bunning
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Service Evaluation ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Communication ◽  
Communication Environments ◽  
Adults With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Instructional Training

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to debate the complexities of intervening with adults with learning disabilities and support staff in the natural environment and challenges of evaluating change. Design/methodology/approach A critical review of the relevance and amenability of communication partnerships for interventions that promote communication growth in context was carried out. Particular consideration was given to the mechanism for change and implications for research design. Findings The communication partnership is a reasonable focus for interventions aiming to promote the communication of adults with learning disabilities. Combining instructional training with in situ coaching appears to provide the most effective approach. Bringing about change within the dynamic context of communication is challenging and may benefit from an open, investigative design. Originality/value This paper synthesises the available evidence on intervening in the communication environment and debates the potential of realist evaluation as a context-focused research design.

“Never the first time on a patient”: the stakes of high-fidelity simulation for safety training

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 23-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Cuvelier
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
High Fidelity ◽  
High Fidelity Simulation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
First Time ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings An operative approach is described that is designed to structure the debriefing along three axes. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

A semi-automatic approach to implement rapid non-immersive virtual maintenance simulation

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Geng ◽  
Xu Peng ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Chuan Lv ◽  
Zili Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Virtual Simulation ◽  
Secondary Development ◽  
Tool Selection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
Basic Parameters ◽  
Virtual Maintenance ◽  
Maintenance Process

Purpose Current virtual simulation platforms provide various tools to generate non-immersive simulation processes purposefully in different domains. The generated simulation processes are adopted for analysis, presentation, demonstration and verification. In the virtual maintenance domain, this intuitive and visual method has benefitted product maintainability design and improvement. Generating an ideal and reasonable non-immersive virtual maintenance simulation is always time-consuming because of the complicated human operations and logical relationships involved. This study aims to propose a semiautomatic approach to increase efficiency in non-immersive virtual maintenance simulation implementation. Design/methodology/approach The methodology analyzes the general catalogs of common maintenance tasks and explores the corresponding secondary development approaches of simulation tools that can achieve motion simulation in virtual environments, by focusing on the diversity, complexity and uncertainty in non-immersive virtual simulation process generation. Afterward, a single virtual human motion can be generated by controlling the parameters and indices of the simulation tools. Subsequently, all of the generated single motions are connected logically to simulate the entire maintenance process. Findings Instead of selecting various tools, such as that in a traditional method, the proposed methodology analyzes and integrates the necessary basic parameters considering the characteristics of virtual maintenance simulation for a target maintenance activity. Originality/value The user can control the predefined parameters to generate the simulation combining several other simple operations in virtual environments. Consequently, the methodology decreases simulation tool selection and logic consideration and increases efficiency to a certain extent in non-immersive virtual maintenance simulation generation.

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