1. As part of SMART, the
CSU Evaluation Team cur-
rently has contracts with the
Colorado Department of Pub-
lic Health and Environment
(CDPHE) and the Colorado
Department of Human Ser-
vices (CDHS) to evaluate the
effectiveness of three pro-
jects; the Tony Grampsas
Youth Services Program
(TGYS), the Statewide Stra-
tegic Use Fund (SSUF), and
Project Safety Net. These
evaluations serve many grant-
ees across the state of Colo-
rado devoted to improving the
lives of youth and families.
The TGYS Program is in
the last of a 3-year grant cycle.
Each year, grantees participate
in a standardized pre- and post
-test evaluation design that
yields local-level and aggre-
gate data. Using matched data
on approximately 9,300 par-
ticipants from 112 grantees,
evaluation efforts for the sec-
ond year of the cycle provided
evidence that most programs
demonstrated positive, signifi-
cant change from pre- to post-
test.
During this third year and
on into the next grant cycle
(2011-14), the CSU evaluation
team will continue to collabo-
rate with the CDPHE to im-
prove technical assistance to
grantees and strengthen pro-
gram structure and planning.
SSUF grantees receive
funding from an appropriation
of federal Temporary Assis-
tance for Needy Families
(TANF) funds. Funded pro-
jects take innovative ap-
proaches to enhance the long-
term self-sufficiency of low-
income Colorado families,
reduce the number of children
living in poverty, strengthen
families who are living in
poverty, and increase partici-
pation in meaningful work.
This program is in the first of
a 2-year grant cycle. The CSU
evaluation team is currently
employing multiple formative
evaluation approaches, in-
cluding site visits to the 20
funded agencies to identify
best practices and practical
challenges and develop indi-
vidual evaluation plans. Out-
come data analysis and re-
porting for this project will be
conducted in July and avail-
able in the early Fall.
SMART Program Evaluation Updates
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Project Safety Net
Highlights
2
Safety Culture
among Latino and
non-Latino Con-
struction workers
3
Construction Safety
Measures
3
MAP ERC Collabo-
rations
4
Leading the way 5
Fall 2010 Brown-
bag Series
6
About SMART 7
SMART NEWSLETTERJ A N U A R Y 2 5 , 2 0 1 1V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1
Project Safety Net is in the
midst of its second 3-year grant
cycle. During the first year, 478
participants in seven Colorado
communities received gatekeeper
training, either: 1) Question, Per-
suade, Refer (QPR) or Applied
Suicide Intervention Skills Train-
ing (ASIST). Gatekeeper training
trains individuals in the commu-
nity, known as gatekeepers, to
identify, refer, and direct indi-
viduals in crisis to appropriate
treatment. Goals set prior to the
trainings were met with trainees
reporting that they were able to ask
a potentially suicidal person if they
were thinking about suicide. Both
QPR and ASIST trainees showed
improvement from pre-test to post-
test on intentions to inquire about
suicidal feelings. More impor-
tantly, trainees who completed fol-
low-up surveys several months
after training reported performing
11 referrals (QPR) and 38 direct
interventions (ASIST) with indi-
viduals who showed signs of being
suicidal. Follow-up survey data
will continue to be collected
through June of 2011. The CSU
evaluation team looks forward to
continuing collaboration with the
Office of Suicide Prevention at the
CDPHE on several related pro-
jects.
For questions regarding this article,
please contact:
Julie Maertens
ajmtgys@lamar.colostate.edu

2. One widely disseminated approach to decrease suicide rates is to train individuals in the community,
known as gatekeepers, to identify, question, and refer individuals in crisis to appropriate treatment. How-
ever, recent studies have found that knowledge and self-efficacy (i.e., confidence to intervene) significantly
decrease by six months. These findings suggest that the effects of training may not last over time.
To address this finding, the CSU evaluation team has been working with the Office of Suicide Preven-
tion (OSP) and the Colorado suicide prevention community to develop two sustainability strategies that can
boost trainees’ confidence in their ability to intervene: (1) an inspirational video, and (2) online newsletter.
These strategies are the result of two pilot projects and will be brief in nature. Further, both approaches will
provide identical content in a success story format to encourage trainees to apply their skills.
Within the next few weeks, a longitudinal study will be conducted to assess whether these strategies
help trainees feel more confident in their ability to save a life. Data will be collected on five separate occa-
sions. The CSU evaluation team is very excited to disseminate and evaluate the effectiveness of these two
sustainability strategies!
For questions regarding this article, please contact
Annette Shtivelband
annette.shtivelband@gmail.com
P A G E 2V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1
Project Safety Net Highlights
Referral Network Analysis
Gatekeeper Training Sustainability Update
In 2009, the state of Colorado had the highest recorded suicide rate in over two decades. This
mortality rate surpassed the number of people who died by influenza and pneumonia, car accidents,
and diabetes (Office of Suicide Prevention, 2010). In an effort to identify more effective means of
preventing suicide in the state, the Project Safety Net team will apply the methods of social network
analysis to assess and analyze the suicide referral networks in two local communities. Participating
agencies will be selected based on their involvement with suicide prevention, and particularly, their
involvement in the referral process. Two representatives from each agency will be interviewed us-
ing a survey designed to capture: (1) inter-agency relations across 7 relationship categories, (2) an
overall relationship rating for each agency, and (3) any thoughts or suggestions regarding how the
referral networks might be augmented. Network maps will be analyzed to identify barriers,
strengths, and patterns across the different relationship categories. The descriptive picture provided
by these maps will be used to facilitate dialogue and action planning with community stakeholders
about how relationships can be strengthened in order to build capacity. A list of best practices and
recommendations from interview data will also facilitate discussion. The team is
in the process of collecting data in one of the participating communities, and we
hope to start data collection in the second community early this Spring.
For questions regarding this article, please contact
Lauren Menger
lauren.menger@colostate.edu

3. P A G E 3
S M A R T N E W S L E T T E R
During the past year, members of SMART have been working in collaboration with the Center for Construc-
tion Research and Training (formerly CPWR) in order to identify the best measures of safety and health perform-
ance for the construction industry. To date, we have surveyed and interviewed over 200 construction profession-
als from different size operations across the country. After focusing in the Midwest region during early 2010, the
new few months were spent interviewing safety and health professionals in the Mountain West region. Then, in
late summer, the team met with construction representatives at the TVA Tripartite Labor/Management conference
in Nashville. Finally, in the fall of 2010, we obtained input from construction safety professionals and executives
in the Pacific Northwest.
Currently, our team is analyzing data in order to identify a small subset of measures that will be used in the
next phase of the project. These will be the measures that were rated as the most important by the vast majority of
our field professionals. The coming months will be spent constructing a validation plan for these safety and health
performance measures. Our team looks forward to these next steps in
the project which involve testing these measures in the field.
For more information, please contact
Paige Gardner
paigegardner2@yahoo.com
Identifying the Best Safety and Health Performance Measures
Safety Culture and Risk Perception Difference between
Latino and non-Latino Construction Workers
We have recently completed data collection for our project investigating potential differences in safety culture by
ethnicity among the three major sectors within the construction industry. We believe that Latino workers experience
a lesser quality safety culture because of language and cultural barriers. Our project was funded by the College of
Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, College Research Council and included a 27 question Safety Culture
Survey administered to 300 construction workers. One hundred subjects were recruited from heavy civil, commercial
and residential construction sectors, 50 each Non-Latino and 50 each Latino workers, within the region. We are pres-
ently coding responses and expect to conduct our analysis by the end of January, results will be forthcoming.
Anticipating differences, we submitted a proposal to the MAP ERC for an intervention to improve the safety cul-
ture on the mixed culture construction worksite. The project was funded and is in the early stages of scheduling fo-
cus groups, conducting needs assessment and refining the curriculum. We met with Dr. Flynn from NIOSH last fall
and were given good ideas on moving forward on the project. Our intervention will be one-on-one interaction with
paired Latino and Non-Latino construction workers. We’re designing methods to engage workers with different eth-
nic backgrounds and creating the opportunity for dialogue followed by structured language lessons where, the work-
ers will teach each other’s native language to their partner with the goal of enhancing productivity and safe work
practices. We believe that his type of interaction experience will improve worker relations, communication, toler-
ance and respect for those of different backgrounds and improve the safety culture of the worksite. We found an em-
ployer willing to support this project allowing significant work time for the intervention. We will be measuring
safety culture before and after intervention to assess changes. We expect to report results by the summer of 2011.
For more information, please contact
Drs. Dave Gilkey and Carla Lopez del Puerto
David.Gilkey@colostate.edu and carlalp@colostate.edu

4. P A G E 4
During the fall semester, SMART collaborated with a team of
industrial hygienist students and Agnes Talamantez Carrol ( to
create three radio shows to promote the occupational safety and
health of the Latino community. Ms. Carroll teaches OSHA classes in her community
and hosts a Spanish-language radio show called: “Arriba Mi Negocio!” This show is
broadcasted entirely in Spanish and airs once a week on channel 810am in Denver. The
following safety topics were presented during the fall of 2010: (1) lead exposure, (2) per-
sonal protective equipment, (3) scaffolding, (4) noise, and (5) electrical safety. These top-
ics were a prelude to the OSHA training that Agnes was offering the community and was
intended to encourage listeners to learn more about safety at work. This show is esti-
mated to have reached between 40-50k people per show in the state of Colorado!
To view some live footage from the radio show with a touch of humor, feel free to
access the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdAcdVFSo2g
This group already has plans to create more occupational safety and health radio shows
for the Latino community.
For further information, please contact
Annette Shtivelband
annette.shtivelband@gmail.com
S M A R T N E W S L E T T E R
Collaborations
The occupational landscape of Colorado includes some of the most high
risk jobs in the nation, including construction, mining, and agriculture. In
fact, it has been estimated that there is approximately one worker fatality in the state every
three days (CDPHE, 2008). In order to respond to worker health and safety issues that are
specific to Colorado, it is essential to collect accurate occupational health surveillance (OHS)
information. This information can then be used to focus resources where they are most
needed. The Colorado Department of Public Health (CDPHE) has started a new initiative,
WorkSafe Colorado, with the goal of making workplace health and safety a higher profile
public health priority. This past fall, the SMART team, in collaboration with occupational
medicine, ergonomics, and health physics students, worked with CDPHE to draft a white pa-
per that describes how WorkSafe Colorado can enhance and leverage the state's current occu-
pational health surveillance efforts. This white paper will be published on the CDPHE web-
site and distributed throughout Colorado. This spring, the team will continue to assist CDPHE
by researching the most effective ways in which WorkSafe Colorado can develop, market, and
disseminate occupational health and safety messages throughout the state.
For questions regarding this article, please contact
Lauren Menger
lauren.menger@colostate.edu
OHS Surveillance White Papers
Many students in SMART
are also actively involved
and funded by the Mountain
and Plains Education Re-
source Center (MAP ERC).
To learn more: https://
maperc.ucdenver.edu/
To learn more about
Agnes’ work with the
Hispanic community
check out the follow-
ing site: http://
www.atc-
associates.com/
SMART on the radio!

5. Leading the Way
Researchers at Colorado State University, the University of Colorado Denver, and Old Do-
minion University have been working in collaboration with unions, contractors, and safety pro-
fessionals around the country to improve safety in construction by developing leaders. Surveys
were distributed to plumber and pipefitter journeymen and apprentices in three different loca-
tions that asked individuals about the behaviors of their immediate supervisor, and safety on the
job. A total of 1,545 plumbers and pipefitters responded to the survey. Participants were mostly
Caucasian (80.3%) males (96.8%) at an average age of 35, and had been working with their cur-
rent supervisor for an average of 3 years. Almost a quarter (21.4%) of individuals reported hav-
ing an injury at work in the past two months, while 40.3% reported experiencing work-related
pain.
Results of these surveys will be used to create a leadership training to give to senior appren-
tices and construction management students. The training will consist of one two-hour session
per week for eight weeks, and will engage participants in discussion, exercise, role-play, and on
the job practice in order to promote long-term sustainable improvement in key leader behaviors.
To learn more about this project or to become involved, contact
Krista Hoffmeister
hoffmk@rams.colostate.edu.
S M A R T N E W S L E T T E R
P A G E 5V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1
Members of SMART and External Ad-
visory Board members meet at the Chi-
cago MCA office for the Year 2 LeAD
External Advisory Board Meeting.
From left to right: Mark Mitchell
(Plumbers Local 3), Frank Wall (Portland
MCA), William Enright (Local 597 Pipe-
fitters), Lauren Menger (Colorado State
University), Andy Karsnia
(Environmental and Occupational Risk
Management), Marci Wichman
(Steamfitters and Pipefitters Local 290),
Alyssa Gibbons (CSU), Howard Arnold
(Pipefitters Local 208), Stefanie Johnson
(University of Colorado Denver), Peter
Chen (CSU), John Rosecrance (CSU),
Dan Bulley (Chicago MCA), Krista Hoff-
meister (CSU), Konstantin Cigularov
(Old Dominion University).
Lead Advisory Board Meeting

6. Fall 2010 OHP Brownbag Series
Every semester, we invite several speakers to present at our Occupational Health Psychology
(OHP) brownbag series. All of our guests have made significant contributions to the area of oc-
cupational health as either academics or practitioners. These brownbags provide great opportuni-
ties to learn about recent work in the area of occupational health, and to network with current
leaders in the field.
Our first brownbag of the semester was led by Dr. Marty Otañez, an Assistant Professor of
Anthropology at the University of Colorado, Denver. Dr. Otañez’s presentation was entitled :
“Critical digital storytelling: Health and socio-ecological videos as intervention tools”. This
brownbag highlighted the art of digital storytelling, and the larger role that technology can play
in helping to mitigate heath disparities. For more information on this innovative work, please
refer to Dr. Otañez’s website: www.sidewalkradio.net.
The second fall brownbag was presented by Mr. Carsten Baumann (MA), Director of Ex-
ternal Evaluations for the Epidemiology, Planning, and Evaluation Branch, at the Colorado De-
partment of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Mr. Baumann presented a talk on his
work related to evaluation and occupation health entitled: “Public health evaluation and surveil-
lance: Taking into account disparities”. In addition to this presentation, Mr. Baumann also works
with several OHP students on the TGYS grant project.
Our next speaker was Mr. Max Kiefer (MS), Director of the Denver Regional Office for the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Mr. Kiefer gave a very interest-
ing presentation entitled “The oil spill in the Gulf: Response from NIOSH”, highlighting the role
that occupational health professionals at NIOSH played in response to the recent BP oil spill.
Finally, our semester ended with a returning speaker, Mr. Michael Flynn (MA), who works
in the Training Research and Evaluation Branch at NIOSH. Mr. Flynn presented a talk entitled,
“Occupational safety and health and Latino immigrant workers: Barriers and recommendations”.
We especially enjoyed this presentation, as several OHP stu-
dents are involved in projects related to immigrant workers.
It has been another successful semester for the OHP
brownbag series! We would love to have more presentations
from occupational health professionals in our own commu-
nity. If you have any interest in presenting a brownbag to our
program, please let us know!
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 6V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1
View the presentations online at: http://lamar.colostate.edu/~chenp/

7. 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 7
SMART Team Members
For comments or questions on the newsletter,
please contact the Editor:
Annette Shtivelband
annette.shtivelband@gmail.com
Colorado State University
Psychology Department
1876 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80521
(Left to right): Krista
Hoffmeister, Julie
Sampson, Stefanie Putter,
Lauren Menger, Julie
Maertens, Annette
Shtivelband