Reaching the Intended Audience: Why This Video Works for Construction Workers

Part of CPWR's mission as a research institution is dissemination of safety and health information to target audiences within the construction industry: workers, contractors, safety officers, and trainers. To assess if our current methods of reaching our four primary audiences were effective, CPWR had the Academy for Educational Development (AED) conduct a pilot research project in 2009. The presentation will begin with highlights of AED's findings, which verifies that DVDs/videos are among the top methods requested by all groups for receiving safety and health information. All groups also reported a preference for “real life situations.” However, all four groups acknowledged that showing DVDs on construction sites was problematic. Although the pilot research project created many important findings, no Spanish-only construction workers were surveyed. The presenter will discuss: 1) the changing demographics within the construction industry and the challenges of disseminating safety and health information to new immigrants, 2) how the California Department of Public Health and CPWR have disseminated the video, and 3) ways to overcome worksite barriers and deliver this unique training tool.