The Mediating Role of Inattentional Blindness Between Risk Propensity and Risk Perception: An Eye-Tracking Study in Confined Spaces

Confined space operations are characterized by environmental complexity and latent hazards, where failures in human risk perception represent a primary precursor to industrial accidents, posing a significant challenge to sustainable occupational health and safety (OHS) management. This study investigates the mechanism by which individual traits (risk propensity) influence risk perception performance through cognitive processes (inattentional blindness). Utilizing psychological scales and eye-tracking technology, we quantitatively analyzed the visual search behaviors of participants with varying risk propensities across typical confined space hazard scenarios. The results indicate that individuals with high risk propensity tend to adopt a “random-exploratory superficial scanning strategy,” characterized by significantly delayed Time to First Fixation (TFF) and lower Fixation Count (FC) within critical hazard areas compared to the low-risk propensity group. Statistical analysis reveals that inattentional blindness exerts a full mediating effect between risk propensity and risk perception performance, accounting for 72.56% of perception failures. This research confirms that an imbalance in attentional resource allocation leads to higher cognitive omission of salient hazards among high-risk propensity individuals. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for cognitive reliability assessment and the design of sustainable safety training programs in high-risk industries, ultimately contributing to the social sustainability and well-being of industrial workforces.