The researchers reviewed construction occupational safety and health research published in high-impact, peer-reviewed academic journals between 2002 and 2016 to assess whether research in the field is efficiently targeted to produce evidence-based interventions addressing the industry's most serious occupational hazards. Unlike most previous surveys of the field, this interdisciplinary literature search captured research published in the construction management and engineering literature as well as that in public health and medicine journals. The researchers found 741 articles by US-based lead authors, with falls the most-studied safety hazard (89 articles) and airborne silica exposure the most-studied health hazard (51), both among the deadliest current hazards in construction occupational safety and health, but much asbestos research was sponsored by companies involved in litigation, generating few findings useful for protecting today's workers. The review described important trends in the literature, including increased attention to noise and hearing loss, a growing number of intervention studies, and greater concern for populations at disproportionate risk (e.g., small/residential, Latino/immigrant, younger/older workers, & women working in construction). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) directly or indirectly funded a majority of the published research. Policymakers should understand that most occupational safety and health research depends on NIOSH funding.

INTRODUCTION:Printed materials are an essential part of occupational safety and health programs. Public health professionals at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have created a Clear Communication Index (CCI) to guide design of health education materials for the general public.METHODS:We revised an existing handout on heat exposure hazards in construction using the CCI and tested the old and new versions of the handout with an audience of 425 construction apprentices and journey-level workers.RESULTS:Some features recommended by the CCI-such as the use of subheadings, numbering, and other visual cues-strongly conditioned the readers' understanding of the main message.CONCLUSIONS:Design and layout have a significant impact on the delivery of messages in written materials. A communications-based rubric such as the CCI can help writers preparing written occupational safety and health materials for workers and general audiences.

INTRODUCTIONPrinted materials for training and hazard communication are an essential part of occupational safety and health programs, but must be understood by their intended audience.METHODSResearchers collected 103 safety training handouts, brochures, and Safety Data Sheets and scored them for readability and suitability using four standard health communication instruments: the SMOG test, the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease Assessment, the SAM (Suitability Assessment of Materials), and CCI (the CDC Clear Communication Index).RESULTSSome of the materials used unfamiliar and technical terms. The SAM and CCI checklists revealed several elements of design and layout known to facilitate communication and comprehension, but missing from most of the materials scored.CONCLUSIONOccupational safety and health professionals preparing curricula and handouts for distribution to workers should incorporate some form of readability and suitability assessment to help ensure their written materials are clear and comprehensible to all segments of their audience.

INTRODUCTION:Despite the size and breadth of OSHA's Outreach Training program for construction, information on its impact on work-related injury rates is limited.METHODS:In a 9-year dynamic cohort of 17,106 union carpenters in Washington State, the effectiveness of OSHA Outreach Training on workers' compensation claims rate was explored. Injury rates were calculated by training status overall and by carpenters' demographic and work characteristics using Poisson regression.RESULTS:OSHA Outreach Training resulted in a 13% non-significant reduction in injury claims rates overall. The protective effect was more pronounced for carpenters in their apprenticeship years, drywall installers, and with increasing time since training.CONCLUSIONS:In line with these observed effects and prior research, it is unrealistic to expect OSHA Outreach Training alone to have large effects on union construction workers' injury rates. Standard construction industry practice should include hazard awareness and protection training, coupled with more efficient approaches to injury control. Am. J. Ind. Med. 60:45-57, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Many labour organizations that sponsor occupational health and safety training champion "peer training," preferring instructors drawn from the shopfloor over academically credentialed experts. But peer training is hardly new: in the skilled trades, master craftsmen have instructed apprentices since the Middle Ages. Building on the apprenticeship model of education, the U.S.-based construction unions have created a network of more than 4,000 peer trainers who provide occupational health and safety training to up to 100,000 men and women in the building trades each year.