PhD in Sustainable development and cooperation

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Phd thesis

Sustainable Occupational Safety (S.O.S.): development of innovative and sustainable
protocols for occupational health and safety training

The agricultural sector, which employs about 1.3 billion people worldwide (half of the global workforce), is one of the most dangerous in terms of mortality, injuries, and work-related illnesses like musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Currently, traditional occupational safety training (lectures) has been proven to be less effective than other and more engaging methods. The project aims to use innovative tools (such as gamification) to train occupational safety among agricultural workers, in particular in the vineyard sector, in a way that is both engaging and easily accessible, to educate workers on the correct use of tools and machinery, accidents and biomechanical overload prevention. 

The methodology used for this project is the User Centered Design (UCD), which places the user (in this case, agricultural workers) at the center of the design process, rather than the final product. Therefore, through direct field observation in critical contexts and tasks, along with interviews and questionnaires, the most representative scenarios and activities will be selected to create a prototype of a smartphone application with a realistic training game.

The project includes developing a smartphone application with information on workplace health and safety, a video game that simulates activities in realistic scenarios, and specific training on safe behavior and task execution. All of this will be designed according to principles of safety and health prevention, considering the workers' limits and capabilities in their variability.

At the project's conclusion, a participatory design process and tests of use with real representative users will evaluate the product's usability, including its effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction and acceptability.