Innovating Occupational Safety Training: A Scoping Review on Digital Games and Possible Applications in Agriculture

Area of Science:

• Occupational Safety and Health
• Game-Based Learning
• Agricultural Safety

Background:

• Digital games are established occupational safety training tools in various sectors.
• Agriculture has seen limited adoption of game-based safety training despite similar injury dynamics.
• Unintentional injuries in productive sectors share common patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review occupational risk management in game-based safety training across sectors.
• To identify transferable game mechanics for agricultural safety training.
• To inform the development of effective and engaging safety games for agricultural workers.

Main Methods:

• A literature review was conducted on "serious games" and "gamification" for safety training.
• Searches were performed in WEB OF SCIENCE, SCOPUS, PUBMED, and PsycINFO databases.
• Forty-two relevant publications were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Computers were the most common game support.
• "Points", "levels", "challenges", and "discovery" were identified as preferred game mechanics.
• Positive feedback and increased operator skills/knowledge were reported in game assessments.

Conclusions:

• Game mechanics can be effectively associated with training elements.
• Insights are provided for developing tailored safety games for agriculture.
• Games demonstrate potential for improving agricultural workers' safety skills and knowledge.