The development, diffusion and evaluation of a fall hazard safety training program for residential construction workers utilizing instructor led and new media delivery

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