68. Factors Influencing Safety Training Transfer on Construction Sites: A Literature Review

Significant amounts of resources are invested on construction workplace health and safety training of construction workers. An often under-addressed area of construction safety training is the concept of training transfer. Training transfer is a cognitive function, which involves reasoning, memory, attention and attainment of information such as knowledge and skills. More specifically, the maximisation of training transfer has been shown to lead to greater knowledge retention of safety skills and knowledge in construction workers. This paper aims to investigate the factors influencing safety-training transfer through a systematic review of safety training research and practices. The literature review is conducted with the scope of identifying and maximising training transfer effectiveness. This was achieved by examining previous research into these areas, which served as a basis for this literature review and helped in narrowing down the search criteria. A number of well-known peer reviewed academic journals in the fields of workplace safety and construction management were searched. The journals were critically analysed to identify recent developments, trends and future directions on safety training and training transfer research. The outcomes of this paper may provide trainers and training institutions with up to date knowledge on training transfer research and help to improve subsequent safety training design and delivery. In addition, construction organisations and related stakeholders can benefit from this research by discovering the latest developments and trends in maximising safety-training efforts within the construction industry.