Rethinking Injury in Construction Safety Technology: A Theory-Informed Analytical Review of Hazard Detection and Injury Burden

MSU Affiliation

College of Architecture, Art & Design; Department of Building Construction Science

Creation Date

2026-10-02

Abstract

Introduction: The construction industry remains one of the most hazardous work environments despite advances in safety technologies. Construction safety technology (CST) research has increasingly focused on hazard detection, monitoring, and prediction; however, the conceptualization of injury within this literature remains unclear. Method: This study examines how injuries are represented in CST research through a theory-informed analytical review of 148 studies. The analysis is structured around three domains: safety risk context, safety management function, and injury outcome and burden. Results: CST research was strongly oriented toward visible hazards and detection-based functions, with general or non-specific safety framing appearing in 93% of studies and prevention/detection functions represented in 90% and 86%, respectively. Injury representation was dominated by physical injury outcomes (95%), while burden dimensions such as severity, frequency, long-term impact, cost, and time loss were minimally represented (∼0–5%). Exploratory regression showed limited but improved explanatory power after adjustment for publication year and study type (R2 = 0.150 to 0.251), suggesting a structural misalignment between risk framing, technological function, and injury representation. Practical Applications: Hazard detection metrics alone are insufficient for evaluating construction safety technologies. Burden-informed indicators should be incorporated as preliminary evaluation dimensions, calibrated to specific trades, tasks, and site conditions, and linked to response, recurrence, recovery, fatigue, and corrective-action data. Conclusions: The results highlight the need for a shift toward outcome-oriented and human-centered approaches in CST research to better align technological development with multidimensional injury burden.

Keywords

construction safety technology, injury burden, safety risk context, safety management function, hazard detection

Publication Date

8-12-2026

Publication Title

Journal of Safety Research

Publisher

National Safety Council & Elsevier

First Page

405

Last Page

419

Rights

© 2026 The Authors

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2026.08.007