AWhen students register for spring classes this month at the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s School of Applied Engineering, they’ll find a new course in the online catalog that some believe is a key to the future of occupational safety.
For the first time, NJIT students will be able to study techniques to create safer building structures in addition to other safety courses.
The class is part of a growing recognition that more closely aligning design engineering with construction workplace safety is a key to preventing injuries by eliminating potential hazards during design.
Samuel C. Lieber, associate professor and acting president of the school in Newark, NJ, says he was inspired to do more to integrate safety culture into engineering programs after attending one of a series of safety symposia sponsored by the National Academy of Construction in 2022-23. “We brought together a group of educators who had attended the symposium and met with the New Jersey Associated Building Contractors Health and Safety Task Force to get hands-on input,” says Lieber.
One result is the new course, Engineering for Quality and Safety, which explores “how a structure is designed to mitigate risk” for the contractors and craftsmen who build it. In the course, students learn to take inputs from hazard analysis and safety requirements and “do iterative design and engineering work” to develop a safer-to-build solution.
The link with industry also led to the launch this year of a safety engineering major, which teaches students the skills needed for a career as a construction safety inspector, adds John Wiggins, program coordinator for Construction Engineering Technology. Meeting guest speakers and visiting construction sites opens doors for students to co-op and hands-on programs, she adds.
Spread the Word
There are other courses like the new one at NJIT, but they are not widespread, says John Gambatese, a professor of civil and construction engineering at Oregon State University.
As editor of the NAC Symposium Proceedings and professor of a similar subject at Oregon State, Gambatese knows educational issues well. He says the series, held at the University of Kansas, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, NJIT, The University of Texas at Austin/Texas A&M and the University of Colorado at Boulder, was intended to incorporate safety culture concepts in undergraduate engineering education.
He managed to get the word out to 45 universities and 94 construction companies, who attended one or more of the events, he says.
NAC is now expanding the series, planning five more symposia in 2025, says Anthony F. Laketa, 2024-25 NAC Security Committee Chair and retired Parsons Corp. executive. The programs will take place at four universities: Southern California, Oregon State, North Carolina State and Perdue. Significantly, Laketa says, the kickoff program on February 27 in Washington, DC, will be hosted at the headquarters of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
The series will be sponsored by the Federal Facilities Council, a cooperative association of federal agencies dedicated to sharing best practices, along with the Infrastructure and Built Environment Board. Laketa says the interest from these organizations underscores the value of the “safety culture concept” and how it “applies to everything.”
