Payam Pirzadeh

Construction is a long-hours industry in which people often work a six-day week. This research examined the extent to which shifting to a five-day week schedule impacts labour productivity in construction projects. Five construction projects in Australia implemented a five-day weekly schedule. Interviews were conducted with 89 workers across five projects to explore workers’ subjective productivity and reasons for any perceived changes in productivity associated with the modified schedule. Thematic analysis of interview data revealed that, while some workers perceived the five-day week to be less productive, the majority of participants perceived their productivity to be enhanced, due to a variety of health- and work-related factors. In particular, people experiencing a two-day break from work each week indicated they were better rested and more energetic and engaged in their work. Participants also suggested work was better planned in order to manage the five- compared to the six-day week, and quality improvements also reduced re-work. The research concludes that perceived negative impacts on production associated with not working on Saturdays are offset by an increase in productivity arising from improved health and positive work outcomes associated with the five-day schedule.

Purpose: Work factors affecting the career intentions of young construction workers in structured traineeship programs are not well understood despite the increasing use of such programs as pathways to career entry. To address this gap, work factors affecting the career intentions of participants in a construction-related traineeship program were investigated. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire comprising measures of organisational fairness, organisation inclusion, time for life, job characteristics, and intention to pursue a career in construction was administered to 136 Australian trainees. Bivariate and logistic regression analysis explored the relationships and combined effects of work factors on career intention. Findings: Trainees’ perceptions of the needs-supplies component of person-job (P-J) fit were a strong and significant predictor of their intention to pursue a career in construction on completion of the traineeship program. Specifically, the greater the extent to which trainees perceived a job in construction would satisfy their needs, desires or preferences, the more likely they were to indicate they would pursue a career in construction. Practical implications: Findings provide new insights that can help to improve the industry’s ability to attract and retain school leavers in employment which is especially critical in light of the skills shortage facing the Australian construction sector. Originality/value: The instrument used to measure subjective needs-supplies (P-J) fit enabled a fine-grained analysis of job characteristics considered important by trainees and their perceived availability in construction. Job characteristics relating to having work-life balance and health and wellbeing were of high importance but were perceived to be low in availability in construction jobs.

Psychosocial job quality has been proven to be linked to workers’ mental health. Drawing on a life course perspective, this study sought to identify, compare, and contrast the psychosocial characteristics of job quality that are related to mental health in three age groups of manual/nonmanagerial construction workers, i.e., young workers, middle-aged workers, and older workers. Data were extracted from the national and longitudinal Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey data set. The study used 15 waves of data from the HILDA survey with 6,352 responses from 1,768 participants. Longitudinal random-intercept regression models were used to examine the association between each of five aspects of job quality (i.e., job demands and complexity, job control, perceived job security, effort-reward fairness, and job intensity) and mental health. Overall, the research results showed that construction workers’ mental health declined when experiencing adverse job conditions and the magnitude of decline increased as the number of job adversities increased. Specifically, workers of the midage group experienced more accelerated decline in mental health compared with the other two groups when experiencing two adverse job conditions. Age-related differences were also identified in the way that individual job quality aspects are related to mental health. Although low job security and perceived unfairness of effort and reward were significant predictors of mental ill-health in all age groups, job demand and complexity and high job intensity were predictors of mental ill-health in midage and older construction workers but were not significant contributors to mental ill-health among younger workers. The findings highlight the need to develop targeted approaches to protecting and promoting the mental health of construction workers in different age groups.

Occupational safety and health (OSH) in construction work continues to be a problematic issue, and OSH coordinators are a pivotal initiative for improving this in the EU. However, no studies on the impact of (OSH) coordinators in construction exists. This study conceptualizes the hierarchy of controls (HOC) as a means for visualizing and evaluating the impact of OSH coordinators’ work. The study engages with a large observational material based on fieldwork notes from 107 days of observations with 12 successful OSH coordinators. The analysis shows that during the 107 observation days, the coordinators implemented 280 OSH measures and were prevented 71 times from implementing measures. Most of the implemented measures were in the administrative (53.6%) and engineering (35%) controls. This may provide part of the explanation of why an increasing focus on OSH coordination has not translated into improved OSH outcomes in construction. The study contributes with insights for OSH coordinators and professionals seeking to improve the visibility and legitimacy of their work. In addition, it may be beneficial to organizations interested in ensuring the effectiveness of their organizational OSH practices. The study also creates foundations for more research-based practices, education, and professionalization of OSH coordinators as a profession.

Effective interaction between project participants is essential in achieving a high-quality design. Through interaction, information is disseminated in project teams and the required knowledge becomes accessible during decision-making episodes. Consequently, effective interaction contributes to improved design outcomes and enhanced project efficiency leading to a higher chance of project success. Although interactions have been studied in the past, such studies predominantly focused on interaction patterns only, thus ignoring the decision-making context, participants’ involvement, and the interdependencies between decisions. This paper makes a methodological contribution to the body of knowledge by proposing a sociotechnical framework. The framework enables the simultaneous investigation of decision interdependencies, the patterns of social interactions that address design knowledge requirements, and participants’ involvement in and influence on making decisions. To demonstrate its efficacy, the framework was applied in a case study. The evidence suggests that design decisions with positive constructability outcomes could be achieved through an alignment between the information interdependencies of design decisions and the interaction patterns that underpin them. Involvement of participants with relevant knowledge and expertise and collaborative information exchanges between participants facilitated this alignment. The framework can be used in different project settings to analyze the theoretical mechanisms that characterize effective interaction in the context of design decision-making.

In the ongoing attempt to prevent the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus and flatten the curve, governments and employers have encouraged (and in some cases required) workers to work at home. This sudden widespread shift to home-based teleworking was not anticipated. Consequently, the ability to make provisions to ensure the health and safety of workers was limited. Further, in many cases, the shift to working at home has been involuntary and likely to continue for an extended period. The study presented in this paper aimed to examine the health and well-being experiences in a sample of professional/managerial workers who were engaged in teleworking as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic situation developed. Data were collected from workers in the Australian construction industry who were required to work from home on alternate weeks to reduce the number of people in project offices. A multiwave survey was conducted at three construction projects. Longitudinal analysis of the data indicated a consistent gradual decline in the mental well-being of participants. The analysis identified a positive and significant relationship between work–life satisfaction and mental well-being and indicated that the effects of work hours, work pressure, work engagement, and work–life interference on mental well-being were mediated by the extent to which participants were satisfied with their work–life balance. Combining these results with qualitative comments made by participants helped to understand their varying experiences during the pandemic and the impact on their mental well-being. The results highlight the importance of considering work–life satisfaction and creating opportunities for improved work–family balance when designing teleworking arrangements. The paper contributes to knowledge and practice by providing the evidence that helps organizations to maximize the health benefits and reduce the risks associated with home-based working during (and potentially beyond) the pandemic.