PurposeMany work-related factors particularly affect the mental well-being of young construction workers and subsequently affect their productivity at work. Young construction workers in South Australia are more vulnerable than other workers because they consider the distress arising from work-related factors to be part of adapting to a new work life. Therefore, this study seeks to draw out the work-related factors that affect the mental well-being of young construction workers.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a sequential mixed method approach including a preliminary qualitative case study and a quantitative survey. Around 20 interviews across two organisations were conducted in the initial case study and content analysis was used to contextualise the factors and identify new factors. Then, the outcome of the case study was fed into a questionnaire survey for further analysis. The survey received 43 valid responses. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the survey outcome to assess and categorise the work-related factors.FindingsThe findings indicate ten prominent work-related factors contributing to poor mental well-being of young construction workers related to three main categories of factors, namely “nature of work”, “task-related stress” and “unsupportive behaviour”. The work-related factors that have the greatest impact on mental well-being are the machoism culture of industry, work overload and workplace bullying.Originality/valueThe outcome from this study enhances the understanding of key work-related factors affecting the mental well-being of young construction workers. Research findings would also help inform the development of clear, industry-informed initiatives tailored to protect and support young construction workers.

With the increasing demand for construction work and declining rates of young workers entering construction, the ageing workforce has become an important concern within the construction industry. Although there are benefits associated with an older workforce (e.g., experience, knowledge), there are also challenges, particularly related to health that may adversely affect individual and organisational performance. Therefore, it is essential to develop a deep understanding of the empirical evidence related to physical and psychological issues facing the ageing workforce, and then to make recommendations to improve their work health and safety (WHS). This paper reviews the existing body of knowledge on health and safety in the ageing construction workforce. This study adopts the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for a scoping review. The articles included in the review were found by searching the Scopus and Web of Science databases using complex search strings developed based on keywords. Peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1980 and 2021 were retrieved for further screening. Following data extraction and a three-step screening procedure, 111 journal articles met the inclusion criteria. Results revealed numerous factors related to the ageing process that are often implicated with older workers' health and safety, including hearing loss, muscle pain, respiratory issues, and conditions resulting from the ageing process and prolonged work in and around construction sites. A critical content analysis of empirical and non-empirical studies revealed 27 strategies to support older construction workers and improve their safety and health at work. Inspection of mental health intervention studies revealed four successful interventions including alternative work arrangements, individual support programs, electronic mental health support programs, and health promotion program. Findings herein broaden the knowledge on health and safety requirements of the group of older construction workers that could assist industry practitioners in decision making and developing the best strategies to improve the workability and productivity of older construction workers.

By their nature, building refurbishment projects display unique characteristics, surfacing uncertainties, and complexity. These lead to unforeseen safety risks when compared to 'new build' projects. In recognition of this, resilience engineering (RE) provides a significant contribution to safety management in uncertain and complex work settings. Despite a recent trend in RE studies concerning construction, a model that explores the relationships between RE factors, specifically in the unique category of construction refurbishment, is yet to be produced. This research aims to examine the relationships between the RE factors (i.e., top management commitment, awareness, flexibility, and learning culture) that enable a resilient work environment in construction refurbishment projects. One hundred and twenty-six (126) responses were collected from participants involved in building refurbishment projects in Australia. The distinct nature of a four-factor RE model was confirmed using factor analysis. Structural equation modelling (SEM) identified the relationships among the RE factors. The results highlight that the action of top management toward safety was prominent and determined as a positive influence on the other RE factors. Learning culture also has a positive effect on flexibility and awareness and in addition, the effect of top-management commitment to awareness and flexibility is partially mediated by learning culture. Overall, the model shows the interplay between RE factors in attaining a resilient work environment that can anticipate, cope, and adapt to safety risks. The findings of this research provide guidance for practitioners and researchers in the design of safety interventions and can prevent prevailing differences in safety practices between head office and work site to achieve a resilient work environment in construction refurbishment work settings.

Purpose Construction projects in the real estate sector are important for a nation’s economic growth. However, owing to several constraints and stereotypes, the construction industry is suffering from major capital losses. A review of recent literature revealed that risks occurring in real estate construction projects (RECPs) carried out in developing economies can be divided into four categories, i.e. financial risks, design risks, execution risks and sociopolitical risks. This study aims to identify the critical factors that lead to these risk categories and develop a control structure for RECPs. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative method, i.e. a questionnaire-based survey, was used for this study. Using a random sampling technique the questionnaire was distributed to selected, highly experienced project managers. To determine whether the factors identified as part of the literature review strongly influence the categories, the factor analysis of the observations was performed. Findings The observations made in this study lead to the identification of six critical risk causing factors, i.e. lack of efficient planning, execution constraints, external constraints, client-induced constraints, project constraints and partner experience. The observations indicated a lack of knowledge of project management, organizational culture and a claims redressal mechanism in RECPs. Also, this study recommends a blockchain-based control structure to control the occurrence of the risk causing factors identified. Originality/value This study recommends a blockchain-based control structure for controlling the risks occurring.

Previous research has enabled construction professionals to consider appropriate mental health interventions for improved mental health outcomes. However, the heterogeneity of such interventions in contemporary studies makes it difficult for practitioners to keep up to date with relevant alternatives. Thus, the aim of this research is to critically analyse mental health risk factors and identify strategies intended to mitigate risks and promote employees' mental health in the construction industry. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was employed following PRISMA guidelines, and 58 articles that met the inclusion criteria were selected for data synthesis. In total, 100 risk factors and 76 preventive strategies were extracted and clustered into a taxonomy consisting of an individual level, workgroup level and organisational level. Strategies were further evaluated based on the type of prevention and financial significance. A critical content analysis of selected studies can suggest recommendations for future research, including the gap in mental health studies in the construction industry as well as the need for empirical research emphasis on generic forms of risks and strategies to cover more individual (e.g., age, profession), workgroup (e.g., team, trade, project) and organisational (e.g., culture, policy) factors that appropriately fit into construction workplace settings. The findings herein can broaden the mental health knowledge of industry practitioners, and could assist in mental health-related decision-making by developing best practices for boosting the mental wellbeing of the construction workforce.

The aged population all over the world is predicted to increase over the next couple of years. Especially in China, the ageing population is expanding significantly every year. A ‘Home-care model’ is becoming the first choice for many elders in China due to the traditional style of community and economic considerations. However, existing communities generally lack supporting facilities for their elders. This can result in hidden safety risks in these communities. Consequently, retrofit projects among these communities of elders have attracted attention and generated studies in both academia and industry. Such elderly community retrofit projects (ECRPs) involve multiple stakeholders, and therefore, the establishment of an effective synergy mechanism for all stakeholders would provide significant value for the successful implementation of ECRPs. Until now, no such mechanism has been developed and published. This research aims to develop a stakeholder collaboration mechanism (SCM) for ECRPs in China. As the method of data collection, interviews with relevant ECRP stakeholders were conducted. Stakeholders involved with ECRPs were classified into three main categories—namely, core stakeholders (ageing families, government organisations, and ECRP companies), dormant stakeholders (other residents, other investors community committees), and marginal stakeholders (financial institutions, property service enterprises, and public welfare organisations). Finally, the SCM was developed utilising a power–interest matrix. Actions for stakeholders were recommended in order to promote ECRP in China.

Project uncertainty is an inherent attribute in safety-critical projects, such as building refurbishment. While it has been suggested that project safety performance is often challenged due to project uncertainty, uncertainties are yet to be conceptualised in building refurbishment projects. The purpose of this research is to propose an industry-specific factor model of project uncertainty that can be used to diagnose and assess uncertainty in construction refurbishment research and practice. An extensive review of existing literature, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, where 53 articles were selected to identify the determinants of project uncertainty and strategies for managing uncertainty. In total, 23 project uncertainty factors were identified and clustered under the taxonomy of uncertain information, uncertain complexity, uncertain temporal clarity, and uncertain understanding. Thus, 12 management strategies for coping with uncertainty in building refurbishment projects were determined. Learning and a flexible working environment were the most frequently raised strategies among all the reviewed articles. The factor model proposed enables project managers and academics to better understand, assess and manage project uncertainty and deliver safer building refurbishment projects. As such, it also provides a sufficient platform and initiates debate towards the development of uncertainty management strategies to better prepare for surprises as projects progress.

A safe work environment is crucial in high-risk industries, such as construction refurbishment. Safety incidents caused by uncertainty and unexpected events in construction refurbishment systems are difficult to control using conventional safety management techniques. Resilience engineering (RE) is proposed as an alternative to traditional safety management approaches. It presents a successful safety management methodology designed to deal with uncertainty in high-risk work environments. Despite the fact that RE resides in the safety domain, there is no common set of RE indicators to measure and assess resilient in the work environment. The main aim of this research is to explore RE indicators that have been identified as important in developing and assessing the resilient work environment in high-risk industries, particularly in construction refurbishment. Indicators have been attained through a systematic literature review of research and scholarly articles published between the years 2004 and 2019. The literature review explored RE indicators in various industries. Descriptive analysis and co–occurrence-based network visualization were used for data analysis. The findings revealed 28 RE indicators in 11 different high-risk industries. The results show that the four commonly used indicators were: top-management commitment, awareness, learning, and flexibility, all of which have a strong relationship with RE. The findings of this study are useful for stakeholders when making decisions concerning the most important RE indicators in the context of their research or practice as this would avoid the ambiguity and disparity in the identification of RE indicators.

This project investigates the measurement of resilience engineering. A growing body of peer-reviewed studies continues to be published on resilience engineering, demonstrates its recognition and importance to safety across a range of industrial contexts. However, little attention has focused on developing an understanding of how it has been conceptualized and measured. This is a significant gap which can limit its operationalization, benchmarking and evaluation n for research and practice. This paper presents an integrative review project currently underway which seeks to address this gap. After completing a systematic search and selection strategy seventeen articles were selected for analysis. Initial findings suggest fifteen survey instruments have been used in these studies.

Energy service company (ESCO) is a renowned concept in the developed world for energy conservation projects, although there is lack of suitable ESCO business model for guaranteed return and safeguard energy performance risks in energy conservation projects in Sri Lanka. This study therefore aims to investigate the gap between the existing energy service practices in Sri Lanka and ESCO concept, and to develop an ESCO business model accordingly, a comprehensive literature review and in-depth interviews with 12 subject matter experts were carried out to achieve the aim. Research findings identified ten sub-elements under four main elements, i.e., value proposition, customers, value creation and delivery and value capture, in the proposed ESCO business model. Key findings further revealed 'guaranteed saving' as the best finance model for Sri Lankan built environments. The research finally developed an ESCO business model incorporating appropriate energy service practices which will lead both ESCOs and the clients in Sri Lanka to gain the competitive edge.