Construction sites are dynamic and hazardous environments where workers often struggle to maintain high levels of situation awareness (SA), essential for effective hazard recognition. While technologies exist to aid hazard perception, limited research has explored how external environmental stimuli and internal safety goals jointly influence the SA transition across perception (SA1), comprehension (SA2), and projection (SA3). This study investigates the effects of augmented stimuli and safety goals setting on SA levels, SA transition and hazard recognition. A multimodal experimental approach was employed, integrating virtual reality (VR), eye tracking, modified Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) and event-related potentials (ERPs). A novel Temporal Hybrid Situation Awareness Measurement (THSAM) method was introduced to quantify SA by linking eye-tracking data with SAGAT responses. SAGAT data showed that both augmented stimuli and safety goals improved SA across all levels. SAGAT and THSAM indicated that the combination of the two interventions led to the largest improvements across SA1, SA2, and SA3. SA transition analysis revealed that augmented stimuli effectively facilitated the shift from unawareness (SA0) to SA1. THSAM and SA transition analysis confirmed safety goals primarily enhanced SA2. ERPs analyses further indicate distinct brain activity patterns (P2 and N400) associated with each SA level. This study contributes to construction safety research by providing quantitative evidence on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying SA transition. It also introduces THSAM as a methodological advancement for capturing real-time SA dynamics and offers practical implications for designing integrated safety interventions that align with workers’ goals and environmental demands.