Impact of Age on Construction Workers’ Preattentive and Attentive Visual Processing for Hazard Detection

Abstract

The growing number of older workers affects occupational safety in the context of the construction industry’s aging workforce. The first step in proactively reducing safety accidents is hazard detection, which involves visual cognitive processing of preattention and attention. Prior research has shown no consensus on the role of age in hazard detection and safety performance, and few studies have attempted to empirically test how age affects visual cognitive abilities in hazard detection. Electroencephalography (EEG) fills the gap left by earlier methodological shortcomings of subjective evaluation and poor accuracy with a reliable and objective tool for cognitive measurements. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of age on early preattention and later attention in the face of three types of hazards: falling from height, struck-by, and tripping on the same level, based on EEG measurements. Results present the age-related changes in workers’ preattentive and attentive abilities for hazard detection varied depending on hazard types. Without being influenced by experience, older workers engaged much stronger preattention than younger workers to fatal hazards (falling from height and struck-by). From the standpoint of preattention inhibition, older workers showed much less inattentional blindness to being struck than younger workers, but such a relationship was mediated by experience. Older workers paid substantially less attention to nonfatal hazards (tripping on the same level) than younger counterparts, and experience had no mediation on this. This study was the first attempt to investigate cognitive-based age differences in hazard detection abilities, including preattention and attention, in construction safety contexts. The effectiveness of EEG signals as indicators of visual cognitive processing in detecting hazards can be examined further. The findings can be used to develop tailored and hazard-focused safety management practices to improve the preattentional and attentional functions of construction workers of different ages.