NFPA Journal - Summer 2023 - 15

lithium-ion battery response and
safety will be broken down into
five daily focus areas: recognition
of hazards, firefighting operations,
firefighter safety, post-incident considerations,
and public education.
Resources and training videos are
available at safetystanddown.org.
The page will be updated periodically
with new information.
Survey: Workers favor tools
such as NFPA LiNK
A recent survey conducted by NFPA
found that a majority of skilled trade
workers want to work with innovative,
nontraditional tools, including
digital resources such as NFPA
LiNK®
, a flexible web-based platform
for NFPA's codes and standards.
According to NFPA's 2023 Industry
Trends Survey, 68 percent of skilled
trade workers feel a desire to work
with such tools.
The survey, conducted late last
year, collected responses from 330
U.S.-based workers 18 and older in the
electrical, manufacturing, construction,
engineering, architect/design,
facility maintenance, fire service, and
insurance/risk management fields.
The survey reveals insights around
employee sentiment on training and
labor shortages, use of technology on
the job site, and how technology supports
their top priorities.
Other survey findings include:
AS INDUSTRY HIRING LAGS,
SKILLED TRADE WORKERS
EMPHASIZE TRAINING.
Nearly half of respondents (45 percent)
said a shortage of qualified
workers would be their biggest
challenge in 2023. Additionally, 42
percent said they anticipate their
budgets will focus on increased
hiring to replace or add jobs in 2023.
Closely following concerns around
a hiring shortage, 42 percent of
respondents cited lack of knowledge
sharing and collaboration as their
top challenge, while 32 percent said
the continual evolution of codes and
standards requirements would be
their greatest challenge in 2023.
SKILLED TRADE WORKERS UTILIZE
TECHNOLOGY ON THE JOBSITE, BUT
THERE'S ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT.
The survey found that 32 percent of
respondents utilize technology on
the jobsite on a daily basis, while 22
percent utilized technology multiple
times a week. With this in mind, 28
percent of trade workers anticipate
their organizations' 2023 budgets
will focus on updating manual or
outdated equipment.
These potential budget increases
are in line with employee priorities:
alongside the finding that 68 percent
of respondents felt a desire to work
with innovative, non-traditional
tools on a jobsite, just 17 percent
indicated that the lack of job-enabling
technology was a significant
challenge on the jobsite.
Further, 40 percent of respondents
believed the biggest opportunity
for technology to improve their
day-to-day work would be for ease
of communication between team
members: 25 percent believed it
would improve accuracy and safety,
13 percent believed it would resolve
code and inspection disputes faster,
11 percent believed it would provide
quick and easy access to codes and
standards, and 10 percent believed it
would give customers confidence in
their organization's ability.
TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION WILL
SUPPORT SKILLED TRADE WORKERS'
TOP PRIORITIES ON THE JOBSITE.
When asked what they most prioritize
on a jobsite, 37 percent of respondents
said quality of work, while 31 percent
identified safety and security. To that
end, 25 percent of respondents believe
technology implemented in their dayto-day
job functions would improve
accuracy and safety.
That technology includes groundbreaking
tools such as NFPA LiNK,
which allows users to access NFPA
codes and standards in the field on
their favorite devices and to save,
bookmark, and share that information
with colleagues to more
efficiently address jobsite challenges.
" Safety and quality of work will
always remain a top priority for
managers and their teams, but the
challenge ahead is acting proactively
rather than reactively, " said said Kyle
Spencer, director of NFPA LiNK.
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NFPA Journal - Summer 2023

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