Virtual Reality for Public Health: A Study on a VR Intervention to Enhance Occupational Injury Prevention

Details

• Personal Author:
  Byrd AP ; Chen J ; Leach J ; Mazur J ; Namkoong K ; Song Y ; Vincent S
• Description:
  Background: Agriculture is one of the most hazardous occupations in the USA. Especially, tractor rollover incidents are the leading cause of farming-related injuries or deaths. This study examines the effect of a VR intervention (Virtual Reality Intervention for Safety Education; VRISE) on behavioral intentions for occupational safety and identifies a psychological mechanism that shows how the immersive technology works. Methods: VRISE was developed by a multidisciplinary team of agricultural educators, computer scientists and communication specialists. It was designed to provide a virtual environment where users practice tractor operation and try to avoid several rollover hazards. The participants (291 high school students) were recruited at the 2019 National Future Farmers Association Convention & Expo and randomly assigned to one of three conditions: two different types of control groups (Control1: No treatment group and Control2: 2D Screen group) and the treatment group. Results: Findings show that, through the immersive VR experience, the VR intervention enhanced perceived threat of tractor-related accidents which in turn, led to improved behavioral intentions for tractor safety. Conclusions: Findings shed light on the effectiveness of a VR intervention to improve public health outcomes, especially in occupational safety education, where unsafe practices often result in injury and fatality. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Injury Prevention Agricultural Workers Author Keywords: Virtual Reality Equipment Operation Experience Of Immersion Farm Workers Hazard Recognition Injury Prevention Intervention Effectiveness Occupational Safety Safety Education Tractor Rollover Tractors Virtual Reality

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• ISSN:
  1741-3842
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  136-144
• Volume:
  45
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064594
• Citation:
  J Public Health 2023 Mar; 45(1):136-144
• Contact Point Address:
  Kang Namkoong, Department of Communication, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
• Email:
  namkoong@umd.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Kentucky
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Public Health
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:14fdc842d969ee0b17b8b3927a9c917c26a8dd29a6b6cbc659ba091551ced209b3d132385e90d2ac29c40e8bc7347783087cded22cde0a9e7c2eaa3f7353ba86
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/223029/cdc_223029_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 530.18 KB ]