2022 NAC Symposia Series

Many organizations in the infrastructure and constructed environment industries have demonstrated excellent safety records, yet the industry itself needs marked improvement. Reducing accidents, research has shown, is directly related to the safety culture within an organization. Although well documented in research and in literature, the actions needed to develop and maintain a safety culture are not well known nor are they practiced throughout the industry. Efforts to spread the word on actions to take are ongoing, but many executives, managers, and supervisors in charge of construction activities have never been exposed to these concepts. This symposium series and its findings aim to elevate the awareness of actions needed to create a safety culture across the industry.

Concept

Engineering professionals are increasingly responsible for leading capital projects where the safety culture of the organization’s operations is important to protect life, injury, and public safety. The National Academy of Construction will convene a symposia series to engage with leading engineering schools and industry around the inclusion of safety culture concepts within current curricula constraints. The goal is to prepare graduating engineers to be of greater value to industry and to be ready for the leadership roles they will fill in the future.

Symposia Execution

NAC, the host universities, and professional societies will invite faculty and industry leaders from their local region in order to provide a diverse representation at each symposium. Symposia will be scheduled so that learnings from an earlier symposium can be incorporated into the subsequent symposia.