Outcomes of a revised apprentice carpenter fall prevention training curriculum.

Falls from heights are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among construction workers, especially inexperienced workers and those performing residential construction. This research reports changes in fall prevention behaviors following revision of fall prevention training in a union-based carpenters' apprenticeship program. We used a comprehensive needs assessment to identify gaps in apprentice carpenters' preparation to work at heights, used these results to guide a school-based fall prevention curriculum to fill these gaps, and measured the effects of the revised curriculum on knowledge, beliefs, and fall prevention behaviors.

Changes in fall prevention training for apprentice carpenters based on a comprehensive needs assessment.

Problem: Falls from heights in residential construction are common, especially among inexperienced workers.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive needs assessment to determine gaps in the school-based apprentice carpenters' fall prevention training. A team of carpenter instructors and researchers revised the fall prevention training to fill these gaps.

Fall prevention among apprentice carpenters.

Objectives: Falls from heights are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the construction industry, especially among inexperienced workers. We surveyed apprentice carpenters to identify individual and organizational factors associated with falls from heights.

Methods: We developed a 72-item survey on fall prevention with multiple domains including fall experience, fall-prevention knowledge, risk perceptions, confidence in ability to prevent falls, training experience, and perceptions of the safety climate and crew safety behaviors.