A Randomized Controlled Field Trial: A Gamified Training Course on Workplace Health and Safety Prevention for Middle School Students – “Let’s Play 81!”

Workplace safety is increasingly recognized not only as a matter of regulatory compliance but as a collective, knowledgebased infrastructure that must be cultivated early and systemically. In response to this challenge, the “Let’s Play 81!” project introduces a school-based, game-driven educational pathway aimed at promoting occupational safety awareness among students aged 8 to 13. Developed in alignment with Italy’s updated safety legislation (Legislative Decree 81/2008, reform 2024), the project reframes prevention as a civic competence rooted in shared knowledge, care, and responsibility. The initiative was piloted in four public schools in central Italy, involving 198 students, 20 teachers, and 4 certified safety trainers. It employs analog games—developed and validated by occupational health experts—as tools to activate learning through play. Three distinct games simulate safety challenges in fictional yet relatable settings. These tools enable students to interact with roles, rules, and consequences, encouraging reflection, dialogue, and collective problem-solving. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach. Quantitatively, it measures knowledge acquisition using a pre/post quiz (81Questionnaire), revealing a significant improvement in the intervention group (+4.43 points on average, p < 0.001). Qualitative data from teacher and trainer feedback underscore increased engagement, emotional involvement, and transversal learning outcomes (e.g., collaboration, attention, civic sense). From a knowledge management perspective, the project demonstrates how structured play can serve as a conduit for transmitting tacit and explicit knowledge in early education contexts. It also fosters interinstitutional collaboration among schools, Universities, and training bodies, suggesting a model for distributed governance in prevention. “Let’s Play 81!” offers a replicable framework to embed safety culture through experiential, inclusive, and cognitively rich learning. It contributes to the broader discourse on how public value can be co-generated through educational innovation and how knowledge-intensive processes—like risk awareness and prevention—can be activated far beyond the boundaries of formal workplaces.