Student Education and Training Needs for Safety in Roadway Engineering Fieldwork

Universities, colleges, and other learning institutions receive funding for research studies and data collection involving laboratory and field site work. Students are hired to work in the laboratory or field to gain experience, fulfill their educational requirements, and reduce the financial burden for their education. The safety of student researchers is commonly regarded as a top priority and is an important part of their education for their future careers. While on-campus laboratory safety for students is commonly stressed by many universities, field site safety is rarely mentioned. A study led by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) was conducted with assistance from Oregon State University (OSU) and Portland State University (PSU) to create a safety training manual and video for student workers and researchers who perform roadway engineering fieldwork. The study revealed safety education and training needs for students. To carry out field data collection, students may be required to work on a roadway, in the right-of-way, or close to live-traffic environments. Workers and researchers present on roadways are exposed to hazardous conditions which present the need for safety training to increase the skill level, hazard awareness, risk perception, and quick reactions of those conducting work operations. Unlike work conducted by permanent employees, work conducted by student workers and researchers typically involves temporary, short-term assignments, so students often only receive informal safety training when required to collect data in the field. Formal safety training resources are needed to provide students—who are the future employees of the transportation industry—with adequate knowledge and skills to ensure that they know how to work safely on roadways. This paper describes current practices related to student worker safety training and the results of a survey conducted to collect the perspectives of onsite engineers and experienced managers on student safety training needs. Conclusions and recommendations are reported based on safety training in university curricula, a comprehensive literature review, and the survey results.