Developing and Assessing a Safety Training Module to Reduce the Risk of Cave-ins in the Construction Industry

Eddie Rivera Olivencia; Carla Lopez Del Puerto; Jose L. Perdomo; Antonio A. Gonzalez-Quevedo

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Construction 1: Special Topics in Construction Education: BIM, Simulation, Sustainability, and Safety
Tagged Division: Construction
Page Count: 11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--28141
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/28141
Download Count: 549

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Paper Authors

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Eddie Rivera Olivencia University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez

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Eddie Rivera Olivencia is a graduate student in the Construction Engineering Management Program in the Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. While pursuing his Masters degree, he has worked in the private industry as a consultant, designer and structures specialist for an aerospace engineering firm. He is a registered Engineer in Training in Puerto Rico. His interest includes construction safety, 3D modeling, engineering education and project management.

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Carla Lopez Del Puerto University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez orcid.org/0000-0002-0334-7208

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Carla Lopez del Puerto, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor
Construction Engineering and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez
email: Carla.LopezdelPuerto@upr.edu
http://cem.uprm.edu

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Jose L. Perdomo University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez

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Jose L. Perdomo
Professor
Construction Engineering and Management
Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying
University of Puerto Rico- Mayaguez Campus
email: josel.perdomo@upr.edu
http://cem.uprm.edu

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Antonio A. Gonzalez-Quevedo P.E. University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez

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Abstract

The construction industry is has one of the most dangerous industries with a disproportionate number of fatalities when compared to most other industries. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the majority of construction fatalities happen due to the following four types of construction hazards: falls, caught-in or between, struck-by, or electrocution. In order to reduce the risk of fatalities among construction workers due to the lack of safety training, the authors conducted research to investigate safety training needs in the construction industry. The authors developed a structured interview questionnaire that was administered to construction safety professionals and OSHA specialists to identify major construction safety concerns and training deficiencies. The authors also administered a survey to construction workers to investigate their safety training and risk perception in the construction industry. Based on the results of the interviews and surveys, the authors concluded that the two hazards where the workers need to receive training more urgently are falls and excavation cave-ins. Since falls has been the priority of OSHA for a long time, there are is significantly more training material available on this topic when compared to excavation cave-ins. Therefore, the authors decided to focus the BIM-enabled training module on excavation. The main objective of the training module is to provide general knowledge so that it can be used in commercial, heavy civil and residential projects to reduce the risk of cave-in fatalities. The authors also presented the module to a group of students at the University of XXXXXXXXX in order to make an assessment and validate the learning outcomes of the module prior to implementation with construction workers. This paper presents an overview of the results of the interviews and surveys, and focuses on the development and assessment of the safety training module that was completed by the students and construction workers. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by increasing the understanding regarding the current construction safety training needs and the development and assessment of a training module to make the construction industry safer for construction workers and construction engineering and management students who will work in the construction.

Citation
Format

Olivencia, E. R., & Lopez Del Puerto, C., & Perdomo, J. L., & Gonzalez-Quevedo, A. A. (2017, June), Developing and Assessing a Safety Training Module to Reduce the Risk of Cave-ins in the Construction Industry Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28141

TY - CPAPER
AB - The construction industry is has one of the most dangerous industries with a disproportionate number of fatalities when compared to most other industries. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the majority of construction fatalities happen due to the following four types of construction hazards: falls, caught-in or between, struck-by, or electrocution. In order to reduce the risk of fatalities among construction workers due to the lack of safety training, the authors conducted research to investigate safety training needs in the construction industry. The authors developed a structured interview questionnaire that was administered to construction safety professionals and OSHA specialists to identify major construction safety concerns and training deficiencies. The authors also administered a survey to construction workers to investigate their safety training and risk perception in the construction industry. Based on the results of the interviews and surveys, the authors concluded that the two hazards where the workers need to receive training more urgently are falls and excavation cave-ins. Since falls has been the priority of OSHA for a long time, there are is significantly more training material available on this topic when compared to excavation cave-ins. Therefore, the authors decided to focus the BIM-enabled training module on excavation. The main objective of the training module is to provide general knowledge so that it can be used in commercial, heavy civil and residential projects to reduce the risk of cave-in fatalities. The authors also presented the module to a group of students at the University of XXXXXXXXX in order to make an assessment and validate the learning outcomes of the module prior to implementation with construction workers. This paper presents an overview of the results of the interviews and surveys, and focuses on the development and assessment of the safety training module that was completed by the students and construction workers. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by increasing the understanding regarding the current construction safety training needs and the development and assessment of a training module to make the construction industry safer for construction workers and construction engineering and management students who will work in the construction.
AU - Eddie Rivera Olivencia
AU - Carla Lopez Del Puerto
AU - Jose L. Perdomo
AU - Antonio A. Gonzalez-Quevedo P.E.
CY - Columbus, Ohio
DA - 2017/06/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Developing and Assessing a Safety Training Module to Reduce the Risk of Cave-ins in the Construction Industry
UR - https://peer.asee.org/28141
DO - 10.18260/1-2--28141
ER -