Bachelor of Science in Construction Safety Leadership
Step into the workforce as a leader that improves the lives of those around them through creating positive safety changes in a dynamic environment.
The Bachelor of Science in Construction Safety Leadership major at Virginia Tech's Myers-Lawson School of Construction builds upon the fundamental construction education with advanced courses to deepen knowledge and skills about safety, health and well-being principles, regulations, best practices, and leadership and management techniques to implement safety programs and manage construction projects effectively. This body of knowledge includes a comprehensive overview of safety on construction projects, including Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, hazard identification and mitigation, risk assessment, safety design, and plan development.
5
Safety-focused courses
10
hours of OSHA certification complete upon graduation
Eligibility for admission to the Construction Safety Management major is the same process as admission to the Construction Engineering and Management program and is determined holistically by the Virginia Tech Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The admissions committee will look at the applicant's achievement inside of the classroom, as well as who the students are outside of the classroom. This includes looking at an application within the context of the respective high school. The committee will consider a school’s course offerings, grading scale, and any other school-related information provided to review the student's academic achievement.
- Add CEM 2714 Construction Safety Systems (no prerequisites required, sophomore standing)
- Or for students who have completed CEM 2104 Intro to CEM add CEM 3164 Construction Health and Safety.
- Declare the major in Hokie Spa
For current student at Virginia Tech and interested in changing majors to Construction Safety Leadership, follow the College of Engineering's change of major requirements.
If you don't want to change your major but are interested in construction safety, you can take these courses:
- CEM 2714 - Construction Safety Systems (sophomore standing)
- Upon completion, you can take the following courses
- CEM 3164 Construction Health and Safety
- CEM 4714 Construction Safety Culture
- CEM 4724 Construction Industry Futures: Safety, Health and Wellness
- CEM 3714 Controlling Construction Safety Hazards (sophomore standing)
About our Safety Major
Courses in Construction Safety Leadership are focused on construction theory and applications as well as advanced safety courses through a construction lens. This degree is ideal for students who are passionate about ensuring the well-being of workers and making a change to better the industry. Each specialized course focuses on a specific area of construction safety: culture, health, hazards, systems, and wellness.
Our core Construction Engineering and Management curriculum includes a construction health and safety course, an important baseline knowledge essential for all our students to graduate with. Additionally, students will delve into the importance of safety, health, and wellness in the industry and identify systemic issues, theoretical frameworks for change, risk mitigation, decision-making processes, investigation principles, current practices, and future implications with advanced technologies.
This course offers an introductory look at construction safety and its importance in the industry. By the end of this course, students will be able to do the following:
- Identify systemic safety issues in construction operations
- Examine safety management system approaches as they apply to construction operations
- Evaluate construction safety systems through MEAD (MacroErgonomic Analysis and Design) methodology
- Analyze safety management system approaches to improve safety outcomes
- Assess the impact of health, safety, and wellness initiatives on construction workers' safety and well-being
This course offers a look inside the governing agency's regulations, standards, and laws designed to protect workers.. By the end of this course, students will be able to do the following:
- Identify construction occupational and environmental health and safety hazards
- Apply specific OSHA and EPA regulatory requirements to construction work operations
- Evaluate work conditions that might lead to accident, injury, illness, or environmental release on construction sites
- Develop exposure assessment strategies for personnel working on construction sites
- Employ tools to analyze system safety risks to estimate the magnitude of various risks at each phase of construction
- Analyze and prioritize hazard control methodologies
- Evaluate contemporary theoretical frameworks to improve safety and health in the modern U.S. and global construction industry
This course offers a look inside the mind of construction safety hazards through cognitive recall and decision-making. By the end of this course, students will be able to do the following:
- Modify traditional safety hazard control tools and techniques to examine and classify construction safety hazards
- Develop a mental model of construction safety injuries, fatalities, and wellness through cognitive recognition and classification
- Categorize underlying energy sources for construction safety hazards
- Design construction safety hazard control interventions through the hierarchy of controls
- Formulate design-based arguments using an experiential accident investigation or forensics process for construction safety hazards
This course offers an examination of ethical safety practices through construction safety culture, climate, and organizational leadership. By the end of this course, students will be able to do the following:
- Examine the impact of the construction safety culture and climate framework on safety behavior and motivation
- Evaluate the role of leadership in safety culture development and maintenance
- Evaluate the role of ethics in shaping construction safety practices and fostering a culture of responsible decision-making
- Analyze the safety culture of a construction company
- Design recommendations for change in safety culture within a construction company
This course offers an evaluation of the future of construction from a safety, health, and wellness lens. By the end of this course, students will be able to do the following:
- Analyze key trends, drivers, and disruptors shaping the future of the construction industry as they impact construction safety, health, and wellness
- Compare similarities and differences in construction safety, health, and well-being performance and practices across the globe
- Assess the potential impact of evolving construction industry dynamics, such as technological advances, climate change, and globalization, on safety, health, and wellness within construction projects and organizations
- Design an adaptable construction safety, health, and wellness management system in the face of changing industry conditions, incorporating emerging technologies and best practices
Preparing World-Class Construction Safety Professionals
Our graduates position themselves for unique opportunities within a high-demand industry. With this major, they are on the path to careers as construction safety professionals, safety managers, safety directors, or safety consultants in government agencies, private companies, or consulting firms. This major gives graduates safety leadership insights for more traditional career paths such as superintendents and project managers.
Our Faculty
The faculty in this major bring a wealth of industry and research experience to the classroom and are dedicated educators and mentors to students. They are a diverse and encouraging group actively engaged in all areas of safety research including several actively involved in IC-SAFE, our safety-focused center. With guidance from a faculty that is well-versed in both theoretical and practical aspects of construction safety management, our students are well-prepared to be leaders as soon as they graduate.
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