In August 2024, a research team including members of our Oklahoma State University (OSU) Student Section received a $30,000 grant from the Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Co. (MEMIC) Safety Research Center. The team's project focuses on assessing whether virtual reality training materials enhance workers’ awareness of serious injury risks related to struck-by and caught-in-between equipment incidents.
“Our main objective is to increase manufacturing/construction workers awareness levels for the prevention of serious or fatal injury related to being struck by or caught in-between equipment due to physical placement,” says Leslie Stockel, Ph.D., CSP, SMS, an associate professor of professional practice in fire protection and safety engineering technology at OSU and recipient of ASSP's 2024 Safety Educator of the Year Award. “Recent studies have identified the ‘line of fire’ phenomenon as a contributing cause to these fatal events.”
Established in 2021, the MEMIC Safety Research Center facilitates collaboration between the company's safety team, policyholders and academic researchers to advance workforce safety innovation. Each year, the center awards grants to researchers from U.S. higher education institutions to conduct studies aimed at preventing occupational injury and illness.
Applications for 2025 are due by Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.