Integrating occupational safety and health training into career technical education in construction: formative research findings

Details

• Personal Author:
  Andrews K ; Bush D
• Description:
  The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 30% increase in construction employment from 2010 to 2020. This means that there will be many new and young workers entering the construction industry. It is well established that these new and young workers are at greater risk of injury, as they enter this high hazard industry. Although some will enter through apprenticeship programs, the vast majority will not. One important way to better protect and prepare new and young workers is to strengthen the occupational safety and health (OSH) training they get through construction classes offered in Career Technical Education (CTE) programs at the high school, community and technical college level. Approximately 200,000 secondary and postsecondary graduates in a given year have taken one or more construction-related classes. In addition, CTE instructors are often well connected in their local construction communities and may prove to be effective transmitters of evidence-based health and safety practices. While researchers have studied the effects of OSH training in the construction industry generally, there is little in the literature describing the quality and extent of OSH training in school-based CTE in construction, especially at the community and technical college level. To the extent that OSH training in the education system has received attention, the focus has been primarily on high school programs. In many states the CTE education standards are specifically for K-12 programs and do not impact community or technical colleges. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to help address this information gap by conducting a preliminary scan of OSH training in CTE programs at both the high school and community and technical college levels. We sought to understand the extent of OSH integration in CTE systems, the barriers and gaps in integration, and how best to share new information with this community of instructors. This report describes our key findings and provides recommendations for further research or new initiatives to expand and improve OSH training in construction CTE programs. Methodology: The scan included a review of the scientific literature as well as programmatic websites and resources. In addition, 22 key-informant interview sessions with 27 individuals were conducted, with instructors, administrators and leadership in CTE programs and organizations, as well as health and safety professionals with experience working with CTE programs in construction. Key Findings: State of the Literature: There continues to be almost nothing in the literature focused on OSH training in CTE programs. We did not identify any articles that focused on OSH training in career technical education generally, or in construction. A handful of articles addressed OSH training for construction students, but none of them focused on training in a CTE setting. Quality research is needed in this area. Integrating Occupational Safety Health Training: Instructors in construction CTE programs are keenly aware of the need for OSH training. Primary drivers are concerns about liability and injury prevention in the CTE program itself, industry demands, and meeting education system standards. All described the OSH training provided as a combination of classroom and hands-on training. But because CTE program structure varies enormously from state to state, there is extensive variability in how and what training is delivered among states and even among individual programs. In many states, instructors create their own programs, relying on local industry advisory councils, participation in industry associations, other instructors, and word of mouth for their tools and resources. The one OSH resource referred to consistently was the OSHA 10-hour Construction Outreach Training Program. The OSHA 10 is a course approved by federal OSHA and covers the major health and safety regulations that affect the construction industry. It does not provide training in OSH leadership, problem-solving, or communication skills. The OSHA 10 course appears to be widely used at the community college level, and its use is growing at the high school level. Barriers and Gaps in OSH Integration: Instructors themselves did not immediately perceive barriers to teaching OSH in their programs, but along with other key informants identified several resource needs. Instructors need high quality training and related instructional tools to help them conduct more effective, participatory classroom training on OSH (especially OSHA-approved material to teach OSHA 10 content). Instructors need teaching activities to build students' problem-solving and communication skills. They also need time as well as systems to stay up-to-date and to share information and teaching activities. Postsecondary (community and technical college) level teachers in many states are the most challenging to reach, as they often work fairly autonomously. Reaching Instructors in Career Technical Education Programs: There are both national and state level professional organizations for CTE instructors and administrators. Despite the limited participation of postsecondary instructors in these organizations, they remain the most likely way to reach and/or influence CTE programs and instructors. Reaching instructors through state professional organizations is likely to be most effective, but obviously more resource-intensive. Key national organizations include the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), the Association for Skilled and Technical Sciences (ASTS), the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc), and SkillsUSA. Recommendations: 1. Conduct further research with instructors to better define what kinds of resources are most needed by the greatest number of instructors. 2. Create a system for instructors to share best practices and resources, working with key national CTE and community college organizations, and with the OSHA Training Institute (OTI), which oversees the delivery of OSHA 10 training. 3. Strengthen and extend educational and industry standards for OSH skill development. All federal programs that provide funding for construction training should explicitly require the full range of OSH skills needed, including communication and jobsite problem-solving skills. 4. Promote the "critical thinking/problem-solving" OSH skills that should be included in quality OSH training. Clear articulation of what this entails needs to be developed and tailored to construction settings using some of the resources described in this document. 5. Develop, evaluate, and disseminate a model "OSHA 10-plus" training curriculum, based on evidence-based best training practices, and including leadership and communication skills, targeting new and young workers. 6. Conduct outreach to local industry advisory committees to increase industry's "pull" for safety. Local industry representatives and employers influence what is taught in local CTE programs, and need to understand and be able to articulate their need for employees with critical thinking skills in OSH. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Education Health Promotion Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Administration Construction Construction-industry Construction-workers Health-programs Information-processing Information-systems Injury-prevention Mental-processes Occupational-health-programs Occupational-safety-programs Professional-workers Regulations Safety-education Safety-personnel Safety-practices Safety-programs Safety-research Standards Teaching Technical-personnel Training

  More +
• Publisher:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-51
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047217
• Citation:
  Silver Spring, MD: CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, 2013 Jul; :1-51
• Email:
  dbush@berkeley.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  Integrating occupational safety and health training into career technical education in construction: formative research findings
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:51c790852decb5e0894524e0a00f381497a1c931ce7d311eda01d701f8adaf5b87e89adce2a80213f04abf28543850f561d49557568c97946e286f091cdabe3a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202371/cdc_202371_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.10 MB ]