CAREER: Predictive Modeling of Construction Injuries in Complex Environments - An Integrated Research, Teaching and Outreach Plan

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The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program award is to test the hypothesis that over half of the variability in construction injury statistics can be explained by a few inherent and basic attributes of construction environments. Predictor attributes will be identified by studying measurable patterns in US construction injury reports and the resulting dataset will be reduced to principal attributes using multivariate statistics. Principal attributes will be related to the probability of injury occurrence in mathematical models and the underlying hypothesis will be validated by comparing the predictions of these models with actual project outcomes. The teaching objectives are to incorporate new research knowledge into experiential learning modules with videos, augmented reality, and building information models and to implement an original pedagogical and andragogical instruction strategy that involves collaborative multicultural industry-student teams. If successful, the research results will enhance understanding of the fundamental causes of construction injuries and allow for accurate risk forecasts, directly addressing a critical societal concern that affects approximately six percent of the US workforce. Robust and valid predictive models will facilitate the integration safety risk analysis into emerging visualization and simulation technologies. Such integration may drastically improve proactive hazard recognition, prioritization, and control of complex projects and allow safety to be objectively considered as a competing criterion during design and planning. Educational and outreach activities will involve the development of research-based software tools that will be shared with industry stakeholders and students at high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels. The project places strong emphasis on outreach to the Hispanic community through recruitment of Hispanic research assistants and involvement of Hispanic industry leaders who will serve as student mentors and agents for research dissemination.