Tech transfer can be a barrier or a pathway to moving safer tools and equipment to the marketplace and onto job sites. A CPWR sponsored Construction Industry Technology Transfer Symposium found that researchers and other stakeholders needed more information on working with manufacturers and obtaining patents and licenses. The final Symposium report, Best Practices for Health and Safety Technology Transfer in Construction, and recommendations led to the development of several resources to further researchers’ understanding and increase their capacity for technology transfer, including:

• An Intellectual Property Patent & Licensing Guide for Construction Safety & Health Researchers & Inventors.
• Best practices for health and safety technology transfer in construction (American Journal of Industrial Medicine 58(8): 849-857)
• Creating a climate for ergonomic changes in the construction industry (American Journal of Industrial Medicine 58(8): 858-869)
• Resources for Technology Transfer in Construction: A Roadmap for Construction Safety & Health Researchers – from the Laboratory to the Jobsite
• Technology Transfer Case Study: Development of a Safety & Health Intervention — When the Researcher is the Inventor — Finding a Manufacturer
• Technology Transfer Case Study: The Researcher — Inventor Relationship: When a Study Depends on Another Party’s Invention

For more on CPWR’s technology transfer efforts see the background materials developed for the Symposium: Technology; Symposium agenda; Summaries of case studies discussed; Speaker biographies; and posters covering  Battery Powered Tools, Critical Path Safety Scheduling Software, NIOSH Mine Safety & Research r2p Success, Overhead Drilling, Silica/Milling Machine Partnership, and Diffusion of Innovation theory explanation.