Fullen, M D (2009) The development, diffusion and evaluation of a fall hazard safety training program for residential construction workers utilizing instructor led and new media delivery. EdD thesis, West Virginia University, USA.
Abstract
The numbers of workers in the residential construction industry are on the rise. Falls have continually been the largest contributor to residential construction worker deaths and injuries. These workers are largely self-employed or working for small companies. These individuals are difficult to reach through traditional methods. This research proposed to use the Internet to reach this group and engage them in the curriculum development cycle. An instructional design research method known as Type I Developmental Research was utilized to study the methodology, product, implementation, and outcomes for this program throughout the design, implementation, and evaluation stages. Five complete cycles of design, implementation, and evaluation were evaluated. These cycles occurred organically as the analysis of the data collected resulted in a need to revise the training material, delivery method or evaluation method. Type I developmental research treats the design-development-evaluation process as a form of inquiry and does so by embedding traditional research methods into the development project and utilizes the case study method (Richey, Klein & Nelson, 2004). The research questions were: (1) Does the training program addressing residential fall hazards and safety bring about individual or group behaviors that may reduce the likelihood of falls from heights on residential construction sites? (2) Does the technology-based availability and delivery of this training material increase trainee interest? (3) Does including residential construction worker, supervisor, and expert feedback into the developmental cycle of training development impact the relevance and acceptability of the residential fall protection training material? The results of the study were that the newly developed material has brought about increased knowledge and fall protection usage. The availability of the training material on the Internet led to a broad diffusion and use of the training material, although most seekers of this material were trainers and safety professionals rather than workers. Finally, including workers and others in the training development cycle has impacted the relevance and acceptance of the material.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Shambaugh, R N |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | case study; construction worker; delivery method; feedback; hazards; research methods; residential; safety; training |
| Index terms: | program, methodology, curriculum development, fall hazard, instructor, injury, residential construction, media, construction worker, supervisor, safety training, internet, implementation, case study, delivery method, developmental research, falls |
| Subjects: | practitioner, contractual arrangements, curriculum development, research methods, research management, computing systems, data collection methods, health risk and incident analysis, construction integration, software systems, delivery method, occupational health and safety management, sociology, health conditions and diseases |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Education, Health and Safety, Procurement |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here