Construction safety mobile knowledge sharing among generation Y

Abstract

For many decades, the construction accident rates have been high in many places. Previous research studies show that many of these victims, who ultimately ended up with legal proceedings in Hong Kong, were generation Y, (i.e. people who were born between 1982 and 1995). These generations are also well known as www generations who are well-equipped with Internet knowledge and frequent users of the Internet. The popularity of other mobile devices, such as the iPhone and the iPad, also increases the Web 2.0 participants. Whilst traditional Web users can only access the Internet at home or in the office via the heavy computer or notebook, generation Y can access the Internet easily via mobile devices while they are traveling or waiting for their dinner. As previous research on construction safety mainly focused on the causes of construction accidents and compensation, few have studied the safety knowledge sharing by this particular generation. This paper reviews the construction accident statistics in Hong Kong, and studies the motivation of Generation Y in sharing construction safety knowledge based on Prisoner’s Dilemma. All in all, the study provides useful information to safety course providers and construction safety teams in designing relevant courses.