SCOHTS STRATEGIC PLAN Goal 5 – Workforce Development

Overview  Recent Workforce Development Activities  SCOHTS Strategic Plan Goal 5  Alabama’s Challenges  Discussion

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  Timeline of WFD Related Activities  2002 – FHWA Office of Safety workshop  2006 – NCHRP Research Results Digest  2007 – TRB study  2008 – Incorporation into SCOHTS Sub Committee on Safety Management activities  2010 – Incorporation into SCOHTS Strategic Plan  2011 – SCOH resolution to AASHTO to create a “Special Committee on Workforce Planning and Development”  2011 and beyond – SCOHTS Workforce Development Plan goal implementation

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  Research Results Digest – May 2006 Study initiated and guided by the TRB Joint Subcommittee for Highway Safety Workforce Development, formed in 2003, and conducted by Paul Jovanis and Frank Gross of Penn State University Identified core competencies for safety professionals that can be used for safety education and professional development.

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  RRD Study – Identifying needs  Of 117 universities contacted, only 29 self-reported offering courses in highway safety  Of the 63 Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC), only 24 self-reported offering a highway safety course  Only incorporate aspects of safety with primary content in design and operations

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  TRB Joint Subcommittee for Highway Safety WFD Study questions answered in 2006 Research Results Digest  To what extent core competencies for highway safety professionals are incorporated into existing safety curricula  What are the best strategies to expand their application to broader audiences?

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  RRD Study-recommended core competencies  1: Multidisciplinary Nature of Safety  2: History and Institutional Setting for Safety Management  3: Origins, Characteristics, and Use of Crash Data  4: Contributing Crash Factors, Countermeasures, and Evaluation  5: Develop, Implement, and Administer a Highway Safety Management Program

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  TRB Special Report Building the Road Safety Profession in the Public Sector  Scope:  Examine the current and possible future supply of and demand for experts in highway safety program administration, engineering, research, and evaluation. It will  Hold a workshop and examine evidence regarding the concern about knowledge gaps and current and future shortages of highway safety professionals.

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  Findings of the TRB Special Report 289  Currently, no comprehensive education and training programs cover the core competencies.  For the most part, education and training opportunities are disconnected from one another and from the safety research community.  Whereas safety research is often undertaken in a multidisciplinary manner, education and training tend to be oriented toward a discipline.

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  Findings of the TRB 2007 study – cont.  Most university civil engineering and public health programs do not present safety itself as a discipline, and consequently important safety principles and scientific methods are missing from course content.  Continuing education programs, short courses, and on- the-job training opportunities are designed to cover specific safety topics, program requirements, and skills.

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  TRB SR 289 Recommendations 1. State Associations Should Forge a Broad-Based Alliance to Advance the Road Safety Profession 2. The Alliance Should Champion the Road Safety Profession on Multiple Fronts 3. Early Opportunities for Alliance Support and Action a) Use federal workforce training funds b) Advocate for road safety education and training c) Explore the creation of one or more specialized institutes to provide comprehensive instruction and training for road safety professionals

Goal 5 – Workforce Development  SCOH WFD Resolution (needs AASHTO BOD approval)  Supports AASHTO Strategic Plan Objective 4C addressing issues of workforce recruitment, retention, succession planning, core competencies, and professional development in emerging areas;  Supports WFD goals in many other AASHTO committees  Recognizes rising staff turnover  Identifies efficiency in effectively transferring knowledge through partnering and training  Establishes Special Committee on Workforce Planning and Development

Goal 5 – Workforce Development Implementation Discussion  G5-Strategy 1 – Promote the highway safety profession in public and private sectors.  G5-S1-Action 1 – Coordinate with safety partners, including the TRB workforce development task force and GHSA  G5-S1-Action 2 – Investigate the concept of a highway safety professional certification led by an AASHTO/GHSA Center of Excellence.  G5-S1-Action 3 – Investigate developing a multi- disciplinary professional society for highway safety with individual members.

Goal 5 – Workforce Development Implementation Discussion  G5-Strategy 1 – cont.  G5-S1-Action 4 – Educate CEOs to build support for safety in order to develop traffic safety champions.  G5-S1-Action 5 – Encourage states to designate safety professionals at state and regional levels.  G5-S1-Action 6 – Encourage planning organizations to designate safety professionals for planning.

Goal 5 – Workforce Development Implementation Discussion  Strategy 2 – Recruit qualified safety professionals to public and private sectors.  G5-S2-Action 1 – Develop a consolidated highway safety job board.  G5-S2-Action 2 – Develop safety core competencies for inclusion into agency organizational structure.  G5-S2-Action 3 – Provide information on the highway safety profession to attract people to the field, e.g., science-based aspect; public health aspect; multidisciplinary, multiple organizations.

Goal 5 – Workforce Development Implementation Discussion  Strategy 3 – Retain, develop, and sustain qualified safety professionals.  G5-S3-Action 1 – Promote professional development in the science of safety.  G5-S3-Action 2 – Perform and publish salary surveys for highway safety professionals (public and private sector).

Goal 5 – Workforce Development Implementation Discussion  G5-S3-Action 3 – Create leadership development programs designed to educate safety professionals for organizational leadership positions, e.g., progress beyond safety departments.  G5-S3-Action 4 – Promote effective succession planning as a core element of employee retention and development.

Workforce Development Alabama Challenges  (Tim develops)

Discussion  TRB Special Report Recommendations for AASHTO?  Additions to the SCOHTS Implementation Plan?  Critical Activities and Timelines?