Objective: This study aims to improve the metadata classification framework of safety and health content provided by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) by identifying user-prioritized metadata elements that enhance content discoverability and practical usability.
Background: The current metadata system is primarily designed for internal administrative purposes, lacking user-centered design principles. It suffers from semantic redundancy, conceptual ambiguity, and poor alignment with national or international classification standards, which limits content accessibility and reusability.
Method: A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining a literature and case review, heuristic analysis based on usability principles, focus group interviews (FGI) with domain experts, and an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) survey involving 100 participants (OSH instructors and general workplace users). This approach aimed to restructure metadata based on user-centered evaluation.
Results: “Type of Accident”, “Legal Reference”, and “Special Safety Training Target” were ranked as the most important metadata items by both user groups, while “Content Format” and “Keywords” showed diverging importance rankings depending on user type. These results demonstrate the need for differentiated metadata configurations tailored to user roles.
Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of metadata elements that reflect legal compliance, incident classification, and tailored training needs. It suggests that metadata structures should be realigned to better match the information-seeking behavior of different user groups and to support the operational requirements of digital safety education platforms.
Application: The findings support the design of a metadata system that improves searchability and usability for safety and health content. This system can guide future platform upgrades, contribute to metadata policy development, and enhance the impact of occupational safety training across diverse user sectors.