The Center for Construction and Research Training (CPWR) has launched a new safety and health network to help construction firms connect and collaborate on best practices to keep their employees safe.
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Firms can access the network at safeconstructionnetwork.org to find research, collaborate with other firms on safety issues and share their own experiences or findings.
“Each individual or organizational network can only reach so far,” Jessica Bunting, program associate in CPWR’s safety and health research department, said on a webinar announcing the network on Thursday. “Given the decentralized nature of the construction industry, where individual stakeholders and groups only operate within their own networks, the opportunities to share valuable information with our target audiences are lost.”
Beginning in 2015, CPWR began collecting feedback on how to develop the network from researchers, industry representatives, insurance agents, regulators, safety and health professionals, communications experts and trainers.
CPWR collected responses through its website and on LinkedIn. The website went live with a soft launch in April with approximately 60 participants. There are around 80 members currently signed up.
The website hosts a searchable library of industry resources and studies regarding safety practices and injury reports. Research covers the entire construction industry, including residential, commercial and industrial building.
“Our goal is to populate this site with content from a wide variety of organizations and individuals,” Bunting said. “You can take this information and incorporate it into an article, link to it on your website or you can easily share it using the social media and email buttons down below the individual articles.”
Firms can also submit content to share with the network, which will be searchable in the network’s library. Anyone can submit content, including nonmembers, which will be vetted by the safety team at CPWR before being posted.
“We’re looking for materials from a wide variety of organizations and different types of organizations,” Bunting said.
The library currently includes research from CPWR as well as the National Fire Protection Agency, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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A collaborate feature allows members in the network to search for similar companies. Members can list their information publicly or choose to have CPWR contact them on behalf of other firms.
Users can submit an open call for collaboration where CPWR will post details about the project or work offline to find resources to connect users with.
The website is mobile-friendly and accessible without a login.
The website is mobile-friendly and accessible without a login. There’s no fee to use the network or sign up as a member. While anyone can use the site, members who create a profile will be listed in the directory and control how they are contacted (and how frequently), and may include links to their websites and social media profiles.
“That provides a way to passively promote your organization or your website just by having a profile,” Bunting said.
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Danielle Andrus was previously the managing editor for Colorado Builder, and is currently Editor for the Journal of Financial Planning.