RT-431 Best Practices in Safety Communication

Research Questions and Objective

Essential question: How can we improve the effectiveness of safety communication in construction projects to better capture attention and change behavior?

Objectives:

1- Identify best practices for communicating safety messages that are clear, engaging, and effective in influencing worker perception and behavior.

2- Examine methods for tailoring safety communication to diverse audiences, taking into account individual differences.

3- Develop strategies to effectively communicate the importance of safety practices to reduce the risk of incidents in construction projects.

The following original objective will not be prioritized but may still be covered to some extent:

4- Investigate the role of technology and AI in enhancing the delivery, engagement, and comprehension of safety messages.

Hypothesis

Effective safety communication in construction can be significantly improved by optimizing message design, delivery methods, and communication strategies to better capture workers' attention and drive behavioral change.

Assumption: Improved communication is assumed to support better safety performance, but this project will not quantitatively test safety outcome improvement.

(Expected/possible) Outcomes

Safety Communication Playbook / Roadmap with message templates, checklists, do’s/don’ts, good/bad examples, role guidance, and evaluation/closing-the-loop guidance.
[10/9/2026] respondent insights, influential sender characteristics, nine unified themes, framework, communication (message creation?) playbook, and one message template.

Scope

Dimension	Included	Not Included + Notes

Dimension	Included	Not Included + Notes
Industry Segments	Industrial construction/Heavy construction Commercial/residential construction
Relation to CII past research	Builds on the finding that communication is a critical component of a safety program	Does not address specific questions of the IR-412 assessment
Technology awareness scope	Address rules of thumb regarding AI use based on RT member input	RT will not develop any AI tools for communication (or recommend specific tools). Optional exploratory scan; not central to the final deliverable.
Safety Topic	PPE usage Site-specific risks Emergency procedures Safety statistics and reports	Development of safety training content is out of scope
Communication characteristics	Content, format, delivery timing, frequency, visual design, actionability, relevance, messenger, and audience
Unit of analysis	Individual safety communication messages and artifacts	Not a full safety management system study
Safety Impact Objective	Retention of the safety messages	No quantitative validation of incident reduction or safety performance improvement
Validation	Validation of the survey data by agreement with case studies Expert-vetted (or functional validation) of playbook, framework and tools (e.g., templates)	Opinion-based validation

Methodology

Objectives: (1) Identify best practices; (2) Examine methods for tailoring safety communication; (3) Develop strategies to effectively communicated

	Step	Data/Inputs	Analysis/ Methods	Results	Obj.

	Step	Data/Inputs	Analysis/ Methods	Results	Obj.
1	Identifying best practices: Survey (breadth)	Literature Review + Survey Survey: ~421 responses Data collection closes end of July.	Individuals perceptions of memorable messages Quantitative (characteristics vs. perceived outcomes), characteristics of memorable messages.	Industry-wide patterns in safety communication practices The composite profile of memorable message and the composite profile of less effective communication Identification of Key factors affecting perceived effectiveness (attention, comprehension, engagement, compliance) Initial set of data-driven candidates for best practices	(1)
2	Identifying best practices: Case Study for Depth	18 case studies	Unit of Analysis: Individual safety communication case examples within real project contexts Potential Analysis: Cross-Coding Within-Case Analysis to identify causal mechanisms Cross-Case comparison between effective and less effective cases	Validation of survey findings based agreement between cases and survey results Best Timing, Channel and Location for Memorable Safety Communication Mechanisms of safety communication effectiveness Refined list of success factors, barriers, and context-dependent considerations	(1, 2)
3	Synthesis	Survey results Case study insights	Combine survey and case study results into 24 candidate actions and a four-gate model (attention, credibility, relevance, action, with a measurement loop)	Factors that make messages memorable Factors that make messages be ignored Changes that improve messages 24 actions (prioritized) 9 unified themes Framework Links between factors, outcomes, and practices Prioritized list of best practices (clarify validation)	(4)
4	Develop Best Practices	Vetted best practices Strategies and case examples	Focus group (RT meeting) RT member consensus	Safety Communication Playbook and template	(4)
5	AI Technology Exploration	RT member experiences Brief search of existing technologies Literature review	Semi-structured discussions on how member companies use AI and technology	Rules of thumb and opportunities where AI could help (to confirm)
6	Packaging outcomes	All of previous steps	Produce Final Report and any implementation resources	Final report, templates, best practices, implementation guidance, and the rubric

Milestones

Survey closes end of July/2026
Presentation at the CII 2027 ARC