From The Classroom to the Field and Back Again 

September 23 2024

Media, Safety, Safety and Health, Standards, Training

The construction and maintenance industry has run out of breath talking about the need for skilled labor on job sites across the country. That is a clear and obvious need if the industry is to remain competitive and prosperous. But construction jobs are not exclusively completed on the site – much of the work goes on in the office, where projects are planned, bids are crafted, and decisions are made. Are the next generation construction professionals willing and able to take on the demands of the industry? And perhaps even more importantly – do they exist?

Virginia Tech is looking to tackle at least one sector of construction professionals. Beginning in May, The Myers-Lawson School of Construction within the VT College of Engineering began enrolling students in the new construction safety leadership program. The program aims to educate future construction engineers in leadership and culture building, with an emphasis on safety and hazard protection. Just the second such ‘safety school’ on the East Coast. VT is doing its’ part to prepare the next generation to build upon the safety culture that the construction professionals of today have worked so hard to instill. 

Construction management, engineering management, and similar degree programs exist across the country, and these schools have done an excellent job of educating the construction leaders of the future. But for an industry so dependent on safety professionals – not to mention the level of importance now placed on safety – there has been little in the way of undergraduate and graduate education. With this new program, the safety directors of tomorrow will be coming in with the knowledge base necessary to hit the ground running, easing any stress of a shortfall in a company’s safety professionals.

While the amount of labor on a job site is as important as ever, the construction and maintenance industry would be remiss to forget about the other half of a project that keeps a contractor chugging along.