Leading indicators of mental representation in construction hazard recognition

ABSTRACT

Hazard recognition is mainly a visual search and cognitive process. Mental representations of hazards may impact mental states of hazard recognition. We assessed the effects of critical indicators of mental presentations of construction hazards on prefrontal cortex activation, a proxy for the mental states of hazard recognition. Students participated in a hazard inspection experiment, with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) used to record prefrontal cortex activation. The effects of critical indicators of the hazards’ mental representations on prefrontal activation were analyzed. Results demonstrated that site familiarity, risk tolerance and safety knowledge have significant effects on medial prefrontal activation for hazards at a low visual clutter level. High levels of site familiarity and risk tolerance reduced medial prefrontal activation and saved cognitive resources. Theoretically, the findings supplement the knowledge of safety hazards’ mental representations; and practically, the findings guide provision of individual-specific guidance for improving workers’ hazard inspection performance.

KEYWORDS:

• hazard recognition
• near-infrared spectroscopy
• prefrontal cortex
• oxygenated hemoglobin concentration change

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number: 51878382].