The effectiveness of team building as a strategy for improving students' concern for safety in a production technology laboratory was examined in a study involving a group of grade 9 and 10 production technology students from an urban, lower-middle-class community in western Illinois. Students' safety test scores, teacher checklists, and disciplinary referrals had documented that the students behaved in an unsafe manner in their work laboratory. A strategy to improve the students' concern for safety was devised by synthesizing information gathered during a literature review and consultation with knowledgeable persons. The strategy incorporated the principles of heterogeneous grouping and cooperative learning. After the instructor demonstrated the laboratory safety rules, students shared responsibility for learning them. Safety supervisors were assigned within each group to help monitor group members as they worked in the laboratory, and an assessment sheet was developed for the group to use when analyzing the causes of safety violations and identify remedies. Data collected after the intervention confirmed that the intervention strategy increased the targeted students' sense of responsibility to monitor the safety of their laboratory work environment. (The bibliography lists 22 references. A safety rule progress chart, safety violation assessment sheet, and safety rule violation checklist are appended.) (MN)