141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

286143
Role of evaluation in the evolution of the “safety pays, falls cost” residential construction contractors and workers campaign

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 : 12:45 PM - 1:00 PM

Everly Macario, Sc.D., M.S., Ed.M. , Public Health Communications, The Hannon Group, Inc., Fort Washington, MD
Sandra Wills Hannon, Ph.D. , The Hannon Group, Inc., Fort Washington, MD
Christine Branche, PhD, FACE , National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington, DC
Robin Baker, MPH , Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, UC Berkeley and CPWR, Berkeley, CA
In 2010, 10,050 U.S. construction workers were injured (251 died) as a result of falling—mostly from ladders, roofs, and scaffolds—while working from heights. Efforts to reach small residential contractors with height safety information are almost non-existent. In 2008, NIOSH, OSHA, CPWR (Center for Construction Safety and Health), and other stakeholders aimed to implement a national campaign targeting this group. We first conducted an environmental scan to learn what others are doing in this area and identify innovative and effective approaches we could adopt. We then conducted 15 English- and Spanish-language focus groups in four cities to gain feedback from residential contractors and workers on potential campaign names, taglines, and products. Informed by these formative research results, the national “Safety Pays, Falls Cost” campaign was launched April 2012. Four months later, we conducted two focus groups to seek feedback on materials disseminated and communication strategies. We have since fielded a partner survey to assess the quality of campaign partnerships and tracked quantitative metrics on audience reception. As we begin the campaign's second year, we will assess the readiness of communities in which partners are located to identify a few markets that best meet criteria for an intensive local campaign intervention. We will administer a partner survey to identify needs and establish a baseline of activities and conduct a post-local intervention survey to assess changes in predetermined measures. We will present lessons learned to inform future social marketing efforts that are only recently finding their way into the occupational safety/health field.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Occupational health and safety

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the historical lack of outreach and barriers to reaching small residential construction contractors and workers. Identify ways to apply qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods in social marketing efforts to improve construction safety. Describe ideal evaluation methodologies as a national construction safety campaign evolves over time.

Keywords: Occupational Health, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Armed with a doctorate in public health from Harvard, I have spent 25 years in the field of public health. I am the lead senior evaluation researcher on the "Safety Pays, Falls Cost" residential construction safety campaign. I direct and conduct formative, process, and outcome research via focus groups, in-depth stakeholder interviews, environmental scans, literature reviews, mall intercepts, online usability testing, and surveys. I develop research protocols, screeners, surveys, interviewer/focus group guides, and IRB submissions.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.