1. Safety leadership has been
recognized as one of the key vehi-
cles for creating and strengthening
positive safety cultures (Hofmann
& Morgeson, 2004). However,
more research is needed to exam-
ine how leaders create safety cul-
tures through their actions, and
how to promote these actions.
Project LeAD (Learning, Assess-
ment and Development) aims to
create a developmental assess-
ment center or “leadership train-
ing” appropriate for future leaders
in the construction industry, in
order to ultimately improve safety
climate in this field. In order to
manage and sustain the skills
learned in the training, trainees
will create goals during each stage
in the training, allowing them to
track personal growth as they
practice the skills they learn on
their own jobsites.
We are currently at the end of
Year 1 of this five-year project.
During our first year, we talked
with individuals in construction
(apprentices, journeymen, fore-
men, superintendants, training
instructors, and safety profession-
als) about what they thought made
a good leader in their field. We
have compiled and analyzed these
results to inform the development
of a survey to be piloted in the
Denver region. The survey will be
used to validate and determine
which of these skills and charac-
teristics are most related to safety
Wrapping up Year 1 of Project LeAD
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Construction
Safety Measures
2
Colorado Corn
Update
2
Spring Brownbag
Speakers
3
Project Safety Net
Update
4
TGYS Update 5
New Belgium
Project
5
About SMART 6
SMART NEWSLETTERJ U L Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 0V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
outcomes, and once these are identi-
fied, we will be able to develop the
training around these key elements.
As we look towards Year 2, our
main goals will be to analyze our
survey data to inform the develop-
ment of the assessment center. In
later years, project LeAD will
branch out to Chicago and Oregon.
If you or your company has
interest in becoming involved in
this important project, or if you
have any questions regarding this
article,
Please contact:
Krista Hoffmeister
hoffmk@rams.colostate.edu
Superintendant Focus
Group (May 2010)
(Clockwise from left to right)
Superintendants Tom, Mike,
Chet, and Miguel talk with
Krista Hoffmeister and other
superintendants Tim, Colin and
Jerry about strategies for imple-
menting a leadership training.
Picture taken by
Natalie Schwatka

2. P A G E 2V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
In any industry, there are many ways of measuring how a
company is performing in terms of its safety. Tracking safety
performance is always a challenge, and this is certainly true for
the construction industry. In this project, we are asking con-
struction safety experts to tell us: Which safety performance
measures are most important to use, and which measures are
most practical?
Beginning in February, members of SMART conducted
focus groups and administered surveys with construction safety
experts around the country. Our goal was to identify the best
measures of safety performance. We hope to gain some con-
sensus from contractors regarding which measures are most
important to use and also which measures are most likely to be
used in the real world. To meet this goal, we plan to obtain
input from representatives from varying-sized operations and
different regions of the country.
In February, our team met with experts from the Midwest-
ern states at the Construction Safety Council annual meeting in
Chicago (http://www.buildsafe.org/). We are in the process of
conducting similar meetings with safety professionals in the
Denver area. In late July, we will meet with construction repre-
sentatives at the TVA Tripartite Labor/Management conference
in Nashville (http://frank.mtsu.edu/~tnclmr/).
Later this summer and fall, we plan to meet with construc-
tion safety professionals in the Portland, Oregon area. Input
from these experts is critical to the success of the project.
Once this phase of meetings is completed, we plan to
share our information with those working in the field and
pilot test our list of safety performance measures.
We are still seeking input from construction
safety professionals in the Denver and Portland, Ore-
gon areas.
For more information, please contact:
Paige Gardner
paigegardner2@yahoo.com
operators and analyzed archival farm
safety survey data to understand behav-
iors, perceptions, and barriers related to
safety in this unique and dangerous in-
dustry. We also developed, imple-
mented, and evaluated an educational
safety training seminar focusing on the
everyday application of safety climate on
farms.
One of the top barriers identified was
a lack of practical resources to help
farmers communicate about safety with
their employees. To address this need,
SMART has created packets including
several innovative safety tools, such as
educational safety seminar videos and an
interactive safety behavior checklist to
encourage communication between farm-
ers and employees. Also, to address an-
other common safety barrier in agricul-
ture, all materials were developed in both
Spanish and English. With 500 farm op-
erators utilizing these new safety climate
tools, we expect to see an increase in safe
work practices on Colorado farms.
For questions regarding this article,
please contact:
Erica Ermann
ericaermann@gmail.com
A year after first establishing a
partnership with the Colorado Corn
Growers Association, members of
SMART are now disseminating
what has been learned about safety
climate in agriculture from a three-
phase study. Over the past year,
we interviewed dozens of farm
Agricultural Safety Climate Study Update
The Challenge of Measuring Safety Performance
in Construction

3. Spring 2010 OHP Brownbag
Each semester, we invite a variety of speakers from our local Colorado community and across the country to
present at our Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) brownbag series. All of our esteemed guests have made
significant contributions to the area of occupational health as either academics or practitioners. These brownbags
provide great opportunities to learn about recent work in the area of occupational health, and to network with cur-
rent leaders in the field.
We started off our Spring semester with Dr. April Smith, an Organizational Development Consultant at
CH2M HILL, in Denver, Colorado. As a recent alumna of the Occupational Health Psychology program at Colo-
rado State University, Dr. Smith focused on her transition from graduate school to the applied world. Her talk was
entitled “Getting the job is just the first step: Communication and political skills for your first position”, and of-
fered some great insights and lessons learned about this important life transition.
Our second guest speaker was Alyssa Lasseter, Director of the Tony Grampsas Youth Services (TGYS)
program at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Education (CDPHE). With extensive experience work-
ing with both nonprofits and government organizations, Alyssa gave a talk entitled “Working with communities:
From a nonprofit and government perspective”. This talk was extremely relevant, as many of our current projects
involve interacting with local agencies in the Colorado community.
Next, we welcomed two guest speakers, Drs. Jim Grosch and Rashuan Roberts, who are research psy-
chologists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Drs. Grosch and Roberts gave a
talk entitled, “Work organization research at NIOSH: Studies on job stress, aging, and minority health”. As sev-
eral OHP trainees are currently involved in research on job stress, aging, and minority workers, we benefited
greatly from this talk.
Our next speaker was Dr. Manfred Diehl, the Director of the Center on Aging and a Professor of Human De-
velopment and Family Studies at Colorado State University. Dr. Diehl’s talk entitled “Aging of the workforce:
The changing nature of work and retirement”, focused on the changing demographics of the U.S. working popu-
lation and the implications this has on the nature of the current work environment.
Our semester ended with our annual Munsterberg Lectureship in Occupational Health Psychology. We were
very fortunate to have guest speaker Dr. John Boudreau, Professor and Research Director at the University of
Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Center for Effective Organizations. Dr. Boudreau is rec-
ognized world-wide for his innovative research on how decisions about human capital, talent and human re-
sources affect an organization’s competitive advantage. Dr. Boudreau’s presentation entitled “Making the busi-
ness case for investments in human capital, wellness, and health” pro-
vided insight into the financial benefits of healthy employees. It was a true
privilege to have Dr. Boudreau speak to all of us at CSU!
It has been a wonderful year for the OHP training program, as we
have had many opportunities to listen to, learn from, and interact with a
number of academics and practitioners who are making a large impact in
the field of occupational health.
For questions regarding this article, please contact
Stefanie Putter
Stefanie.Putter@rams.colostate.edu
S M A R T N E W S L E T T E R
P A G E 3V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2
View the presentations online at: http://lamar.colostate.edu/~chenp/

4. P A G E 4
S M A R T N E W S L E T T E R
Suicide continues to be a major public health
concern in our nation. In an effort to improve suicide
prevention efforts, people in the community, known
as gatekeepers, receive training that helps them learn
how to identify, guide, and refer those in crisis to ap-
propriate resources. Unfortunately, recent studies have
found that gatekeeper training may become less effec-
tive over time—six months after training, gatekeep-
ers’ knowledge and confidence significantly de-
creases. This finding suggests that trainees may be
less likely to intervene and save lives as time goes on.
In order to address this sustainability issue,
SMART members have been collaborating with the
suicide prevention community and the Office of Sui-
cide Prevention in the state of Colorado to develop
ways to maintain the benefits of training (e.g., knowl-
edge, self-efficacy, intent to intervene).
Because little is known about how best to sustain
the effects of suicide prevention training programs,
SMART conducted two pilot projects to better under-
stand this phenomenon. More specifically, the pilot
projects helped generate and evaluate potential ideas
that could aid gatekeepers in maintaining their suicide
prevention skills after training.
As a result of these projects, SMART members
have been collaborating with the community to de-
velop an inspirational video for gatekeepers to watch
a few months after they have completed their training.
This idea received support from the pilot projects.
The purpose of developing this brief video (5-10 min-
utes in length) is to boost trainee confidence in their ability
to intervene. Currently SMART has interviewed suicide
attempters, survivors, and gatekeepers. The stories we have
heard have been quite powerful. One attempter shared her
story of how she was seriously thinking of ending her life,
but then some friends intervened and that made all the dif-
ference. Another person, a gatekeeper, strongly emphasized
how really listening to the person in crisis, making sure that
they are heard, is what can save their life. We hope that
these success stories will inspire and motivate gatekeepers
to continue helping those at risk.
SMART plans to wrap up this video this fall and evalu-
ate whether it will help gatekeepers maintain their knowl-
edge and confidence over time. In addition, our team is cur-
rently working with the community to develop strategies to
strengthen the referral of individuals at risk to appropriate
resources. Look for updates in our next issue of SMART!
If you have any questions or comments,
please contact:
Annette Shtivelband
annette.shtivelband@gmail.com
Emily Nowacki
emnowacki@gmail.com
Project Safety Net - Sustaining Suicide Prevention
Help Prevent Suicide!
As a resident assistant, Sam Lustgarten (sam.lustgarten@gmail.com) was thrust into the
world of suicide when a resident of his killed himself. He was a first responder on the scene --
the picture has forever changed his life. The ache and pain led him to found The Always Re-
member Never Surrender Scholarship at Colorado State University.
This scholarship will go to undergraduate psychology majors that are interested in pursuing
helping professions. More specifically, the scholarship will go to those with a 3.5 or higher and
demonstrated interest in working with populations that are suffering from suicidal ideation --
most commonly epitomized by major depression or manic-depressive disorders.
If you are interested in learning more about this cause or donating please refer to the fol-
lowing link: https://advancing.colostate.edu/CNS/PSYCH/GIVE

5. P A G E 5
Ergonomics Training at New Belgium Brewery
TGYS Update - Wrapping up Year 1
SMART has just wrapped
up its first year as evaluator for
the Tony Grampsas Youth Ser-
vices (TGYS) Program managed
by the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment
(CDPHE). This evaluation
serves 94 grantees along with
their 60 partner agencies across
the state of Colorado. Currently,
SMART is preparing for the
final analysis of outcome data
collected from approximately
45,000 children, youth and
adults receiving service from
these agencies during 2009-
2010.
Since January of this year,
SMART has made strides toward
providing improved technical
assistance and evaluation support
to grantees. The team has devel-
oped 4 online trainings to guide
agency staff in evaluation plan devel-
opment, data collection and manage-
ment, and data interpretation and dis-
semination. A website forum has been
developed that allows grantees to in-
teract with SMART, and also with
other funded agencies about questions
and common evaluation issues. In
order to save time and reduce paper
and postage costs, several components
of required form submission and a
significant portion of data collection
have been converted to an online
venue.
An extensive literature search is
underway in order to identify addi-
tional and/or alternate valid and reli-
able measurement tools based on the
TGYS logic model, for use by agen-
cies in the upcoming grant cycle. Ad-
ditionally, 34 site visits to agencies
across the state will be conducted dur-
ing the months of July and August.
These trips will help the team
continue efforts to learn more
about each funded program, and
to help grantees identify and
address their own unique
evaluation challenges, as well
as disseminate lessons learned
and best practices identified
over the past year.
SMART continues to enjoy
working with those devoted to
improving the lives of youth
and parents across Colorado,
and looks forward to the next
fiscal year and beyond.
For questions regarding this
article, please contact:
Julie Maertens
jmtgys@lamar.colostate.edu
This past spring, SMART developed a tailored ergonomic training video for the employees of New
Belgium Brewery, INC. SMART members spent time with each department of the brewery in order to
understand their business. The team looked for specific areas where principles of ergonomics have
already been integrated into the work design and where ergonomics could be incorporated into the
brewing process. Following this evaluation, the team compiled all of the footage into a short ergonom-
ics awareness video. The goal of this video is to give all employees insight into what ergonomics is
and how it can be integrated into their work. The SMART team hopes to continue creating occupa-
tional health and safety training videos that are tailored to specific industries or business.
To learn more or if you have any questions,
please contact:
Natalie Schwatka
nvschwatka@gmail.com
S M A R T N E W S L E T T E R

6. The Safety Management Applied Research Team (SMART) refers to a team of faculty and stu-
dents at Colorado State University who are working on applied research projects that enhance the
management of workplace safety and health issues. SMART is comprised of more than just people in
one area of study. We collaborate with all those who play a part in keeping work safe and healthy;
this includes Ergonomics, Human Resources, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Applied Social
Psychology, and many more. The SMART approach focuses on important human and psychological
factors in the promotion of workplace safety and health. This approach complements existing
physical and regulatory facets of safety management.
P A G E 6
SMART Team Members and New Belgium Partners
For comments or questions on the newsletter,
please contact the Editor:
Annette Shtivelband
Colorado State University
Psychology Department
1876 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80521
annette.shtivelband@gmail.com
(Left to right): Jason
Tomsic Natalie Schwatka,
Andy Troccoli, Anuja
Patil, William Wallace,
Krista Hoffmeister, and
Dr. John Rosecrance