“Safety First”, Just a Slogan?

The objective of this study was to: 1) explore safety and health practices within Career and Technical Education (CTE); and 2) identify the perceived obstacles, which appear to hinder implementation of safety and health programs. The background of the study was founded on a general belief that providing safe and secure teaching and learning environments can be an ongoing challenge. “Safety first”, so the slogan goes, has been a longstanding priority of CTE. However, with the rise of curricular assessment demands in schools, has safety taken a back seat to other educational initiative of the day? Through a survey research method, CTE instructors were asked questions related to the status of a safety and health program, safety training and assessments completed by students prior to participation within the laboratory as well as the instructor’s perceived barriers to implementing occupational safety and health procedures. The results suggested that some laboratory and classroom safety practices are in need of improvement. The conclusions would be useful to school administration; faculty, safety compliance personnel and teacher educators interested in the application of enhanced occupational safety and health practices