Deborah E. Dickerson
Associate Professor
- CIH, CSP
Deborah Dickerson
544 Whittemore Hall
(MC 0118)
1185 Perry Street
Blacksburg, VA 24061
(MC 0118)
1185 Perry Street
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Short Bio
Deb is an associate professor in both Human Factors Engineering and Management Systems Engineering. She is the Director of the Product and System Safety Laboratory at Virginia Tech. The Laboratory focuses on preventing hazards through the design of products and systems. Research projects have included: chemical hazard warning comprehension, product instruction effectiveness, design FMEA techniques,user experience of online learning, innovation acceptance, trust in technology, and risk-based management of public infrastructure systems. Research has been sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Research Areas
Main Areas: Human Factors Engineering and Management Systems Engineering
- Product design for safety
- Product warnings, labels, instructions
- Design FMEA
- Psychosocial human factors (trust, self-efficacy, perception or risk)
- Risk-based safety management
- Process safety
- Training system design
- Prevention through Design (PtD)
- User experiences and user-centered design
- Ph.D., Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2007
- M.S., Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2006
- M.S., Ecology, North Carolina State University, 1999
- B.S., Biology, Virginia Tech, 1996
- Associate Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2018-present
- Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering (School of Construction), Virginia Tech, 2015-2018
- Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering (School of Construction), Virginia Tech, 2007-2015
- Co-Director, Environmental, Health, and Safety Services at Virginia Tech, 2001-2006
- Manager of Industrial Hygiene, Environmental, Health, and Safety Services at Virginia Tech, 1999-2001
- Risk and Hazard Control
- Principles of Industrial Hygiene
- Occupational Safety
- Prevention through Design
- Construction Safety, Health, and Environment
- Construction Management
- Building System Design
- Indoor Environmental Quality
- Introduction to Human Factors
- Product Safety: Design, Warnings, Liability System Safety Analysis
- Forsyth, J.B., Martin, T.L., Young-Corbett, D.E., Dorsa, E. (2012). Feasibility of Intelligent Monitoring of Construction Workers for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. Journal of IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering. 9(3): 505-515.
- Weidman, J., Dickerson, D. E., & Koebel, C. T. (2015). Intervention to improve purchasing decision-maker perceptions of ventilated tools. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 141(6), 04015007.
- Weidman, J., Dickerson, D., & Koebel, C. T. (2015). Prevention through Design: A Macroergonomic Conceptual Approach to Risk Reduction. IIE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors, 3(1), 24-36.
- Dickerson, D. E., & Ackerman, P. J. (2016). Risk-based maintenance management of US public school facilities. Green Building, 145, 685-692.
- Young-Corbett. (2014). Prevention through Design (PtD): Health Hazards in Asphalt Roofing. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. 140(9): September 2014.
- American Society of Safety Professionals
- Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES)
- American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
- American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)
- Best Paper Award: IEEE Transactions Best Paper of 2012: Forsyth, J.B., Martin, T.L.,Young-Corbett, D.E., Dorsa, E. (2012). Feasibility of Intelligent Monitoring of Construction Workers for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. Journal of IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering. 9(3): 505-515
- Doctoral Fellow: Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; 2005-2006
- Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH)
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP)
- Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM)