The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 30 per cent 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 offer
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The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 30 per cent 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.
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.
Edited excerpt from publication.
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