A Study of Safety Issues and Accidents in Secondary Education Construction Courses within the United States

Abstract

Hands-on learning is paramount to teaching concepts about construction and the built environment; however, this poses some inherent safety risks. This study analyzed a subsample of 119 teachers from a national safety study, focusing on those who taught secondary-level construction courses. The current study aimed to examine the demographics of construction teachers, accident occurrences in construction courses compared to other secondary-level technology and engineering education (TEE) courses, and safety factors and items associated with accident occurrences in construction courses. The analyses revealed that a significantly higher number of minor accidents occurred in construction courses compared to other TEE courses during a five-year span. Additionally, 20 safety factors were found to be significantly associated with increases or decreases in accident occurrences. Most notably, increases in major accident occurrences increased with marginal significance when average class sizes (occupancy load) exceeded 20 students. Construction courses were also found to have significantly more accidents involving hand and power tools compared to other TEE courses. This research contributes to the limited literature on this topic and has implications for proactively limiting potential safety hazards and resulting risks. It also provides data to inform the safety efforts of post-secondary construction programs and the construction industry.