| Personal Fall Arrest Systems (PFAS) are required use by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for construction employees who work at heights above six feet. However, the literature indicates that current levels of usage of PFAS are not adequate to reduce the number of fall-related injuries. To date, there are no published models describing PFAS usage and factors affecting that usage. Therefore, the objective of this research was to propose and develop a model that presents the main factors affecting PFAS use, including their interactions, in order to improve the understanding of factors that affect PFAS use. In the long term, such knowledge may help to increase PFAS use among construction workers.;Survey, interviews and participatory workshops were applied in the first three phases of this study to supplement the published literature in assisting us to analyze current usage of PFAS among construction workers and views of PFAS from construction workers and other stakeholders in the construction industry. Analysis of data from all these sources led to the development of a preliminary model of PFAS, and selection of the effect of training on PFAS use, in a longitudinal study to test the model.;The Technology Acceptance Model, with modifications from models of health and safety behavior, formed the bases for the preliminary model of PFAS use. In order to investigate the effectiveness of fall protection training in affecting one's usage intention and actual behavior of PFAS use, a survey was conducted among PFAS users who attended fall protection training courses. More importantly, two research questions were answered in this phase of the study: what are the significant drivers of PFAS use; and what are the correlations between the factors.;This study provided a theoretical and empirical foundation for understanding the factors contributing to construction workers' PFAS use. A path model of PFAS use was developed and validated for the first time. The developed model explained 40% of the variance accounting for usage intentions. Perceived Value, Perceived Ease of Use, Subjective Norm and Supervisory Enforcement were determined to be positive drivers of usage intentions. Additionally, the results from this study also showed that fall protection training is effective in improving influence from Perceived value, Perceived Ease of Use and Subjective Norm to one's usage intention of PFAS.;The anticipated benefit of this study is an improved understanding of PFAS use, which, in turn, may lead to intervention research that targets the factors that have been identified as affecting PFAS use. |
