Enhancing Readability in Construction Safety Reports Using a Two-Step Quantitative Analysis Approach

This study addresses the limitations of South Korea’s Design for Safety (DfS) reports, which are a critical component of construction safety reports (CSRs) but rely heavily on text, limiting readability and visual comprehension. While previous studies have highlighted the readability challenges in construction safety documents, few have quantitatively combined layout and readability assessments using objective metrics. To enhance information delivery, this research proposes an improved CSR format and quantitatively evaluates its effectiveness compared to the conventional format. A two-step analysis was conducted using document layout analysis, pixel-based methods, and the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) to assess layout and readability. The results showed that conventional CSRs consist of nearly 100% text, while the improved format integrates approximately 70% images and 30% text, enhancing visual clarity without altering content. The improved format achieved a higher average FRES score of 50.24 compared to 44.52 for the conventional format, indicating a 1.12-fold increase in readability. These findings suggest that the improved CSR format significantly enhances comprehension and information delivery. The proposed quantitative analysis method offers a practical approach for evaluating and improving document design in construction safety, and it can be applied to other fields to improve the effectiveness of written communication.