Research and Proceedings - National Academy of Construction

Safety Culture Symposia

In 2022 - 2023, the NAC completed a series of five symposia focused on safety culture in undergraduate university design, engineering, and construction programs.

NAC Safety Symposia Proceedings
These proceedings provide a detailed report on the NAC safety symposia series. The proceedings. describe the NAC safety symposia content, provide an analysis of the symposia presentations and discussions, present findings from the analysis, and offer recommendations for a path forward to introduce and embed safety culture concepts in undergraduate education programs. The proceedings also function as a resource for university faculty to reference when determining how best to incorporate safety and safety culture into their undergraduate education programs.
Key Words: Safety Culture, Education, Universities, Accreditation

NAC Safety Culture Symposia Recap
This paper recaps five symposia that were conducted in 2022 and 2023 to promote the teaching of the principles, practices, and value of safety culture in undergraduate academic programs across the United States. Key words: safety culture, education, universities.

National Construction Forum

From 2009 - 2016 the NAC sponsored and conducted its National Construction Forum. Outside associations and groups send representatives to join with NAC members for discussion and strategy development on important industry issues such as the image of the industry, best practices, workforce development, and safety. Recent attendees included representatives from ABC, AFPM, CII, CIRT, ENR, CURT, ECC, The National Academies, NCCER, S&B Engineers and Constructors, the TJC Group, Arizona State University, the University of Houston, Texas A&M University, and UT-Austin. Attendees offer future issues to consider for the next National Construction Forums.

In 2013, one issue identified at the Forum was emphasizing the increase in low frequency/high impact incidents, near misses, and fatalities in the industry. Another suggestion was expanding and strengthening construction engineering and management undergraduate programs at colleges and universities in the U.S.The Forums are held in Washington, D.C.

Workforce Development Solutions
Publication 2016-1, November 29, 2016
This document describes the National Academy of Construction’s (NAC) ongoing National Construction Forum work addressing the pressing needs of the construction industry, in particular, Workforce Development Issues.

Impact to Outcomes
Publication 2015-1, June 19, 2015
On May 6 and 7, the National Academy of Construction (NAC) hosted its Fourth National Construction Forum (NCF) in Washington, DC. The stated meeting purpose for this NCF was to intensify efforts by members ultimately generating “outcomes” from the “impacts” already made. Twenty-nine individuals attended the 2015 NCF meeting, including NAC members and non-members from numerous industry and academic organizations. The NCF focused on the progress made in its three workstream areas (Workforce Development, Image and Best Practices) since the last NCF was held in 2013; significant time was spent identifying potential contributions in new areas.

Best Practices Repository
Publication 2014-2, March 14, 2014
At the 2011 National Construction Forum, the Best Practice workstream identified an impact on project performance due to the inconsistent implementation and use of best practices in the AEC industry. Reasons for the inconsistent implementation and use are that 1) not all best practices are applicable to every project, project type, or organization, and 2) they are not universally applied within individual organizations.

Actions to Impact
Publication 2014-1, March 4, 2014
In December 2013, the National Academy of Construction hosted its Third National Construction Forum in Washington, DC. Attendees of the event included NAC members and non-members from various groups including academia and industry. In total there were 22 attendees over the day and a half event.The mission for the event was to continue the progress made by NAC since the last Forum held in November 2011, developing actionable steps in the workstream areas of Industry Image, workforce development, and industry best practices. Significant progress has occurred in all three areas since the last NCF.

Moving Foward for Industry Solutions
Publication 2012-1, June 2, 2012
The National Academy of Construction hosted its Second National Construction Forum in Alexandria, VA from November 16-17, 2011. The event brought together 35 representatives from 25 constituent groups, universities, and NAC, to work together to develop work plans that would integrate the efforts of key construction industry organizations and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the capital project process.

Need and Implementation
Publication 2010-1, March 7, 2010
The National Academy of Construction hosted its inaugural National Construction Forum in Washington, D.C. from November 1-2, 2009. The event brought together representatives from 14 construction industry organizations across the U.S., as well as representatives of four universities, to work together to integrate the efforts of key construction industry organizations and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the capital project process.