Building common vision for worker health and safety: Construction partnerships and research to practice in asphalt paving and masonry

Background and Objectives: Partnerships involving labor, management, and other government and industry stakeholders are hailed as essential for getting evidence-based research to workers “in the trenches and on the steel.” As part of the Center for Construction Research and Training's (CPWR) Research to Practice (r2p) Initiative, we are conducting research and evaluation on such collaborations to identify factors that contribute to or hinder success. We present findings from qualitative studies of two partnerships in asphalt paving and masonry.

Methods: We conducted case study research of the Asphalt Partnership and baseline evaluation interviews with members of a newly formed Masonry r2p Partnership focused on health and safety. In both studies, we conducted in-depth phone interviews – 15 from the Asphalt Partnership and 10 from the Masonry Partnership. All interviews were transcribed and entered into ATLAS.ti software. Two researchers coded each interview using established concepts from the partnership literature as well as from emerging themes.

Results: Many common elements of success were found across the two partnerships which echo themes from the partnership literature. These included shared vision, history and norms of collaboration, trust, transparency, respect, leadership, staff and organizational support, and the role of facilitators. We also report on unique aspects of each partnership including membership composition as well as challenges and contextual factors and circumstances unique to each industry that affected each group's work.

Conclusion: Identifying both the unique and common factors for success of different construction r2p partnerships is essential to fully understanding the nature of effective collaborations.