A Relative Importance Index Approach to On-Site Building Construction Workers’ Perception of Occupational Hazards Assessment
Main Article Content
Keywords
ergonomic; long working hours; manual lifting
Abstract
Background: The construction industry has a percentage of work-related injuries and fatalities. Workers' perception of occupational hazards exposure can be a proactive management tool in knowing the state of construction site safety performance. This study aimed to assess the hazard perception of on-site construction workers in Ghana. Methods: Using a structured questionnaire, data was collected from 197 construction workers at live building sites in the Ho Municipality. The data were analyzed using the Relative Importance Index (RII) approach. Results: The study revealed that on-site construction workers perceived ergonomic hazards as the most frequent, followed by physical, phycological, biological, and chemical hazards. The importance level of RII revealed that long working hours and bending or twisting back during task performance were perceived as the most severe hazards. Long working hours had the highest overall RII ranking, followed by bending or twisting back during task performance, manual lifting of objects or loads, scorching temperatures, and lengthy standing for prolonged periods. Conclusions: Given the adverse health effects of working for long hours, the management of Ghanaian construction industries needs to reinforce the legislation on working hours to safeguard workers' occupational health. Safety professionals can use the study's findings to improve safety performance in the Ghanaian construction industry.
References
1. International Labour Organization (ILO). The enormous burden of poor working condi-tions. 2022. Available online: https://www.ilo.org/moscow/areas-of-work/occupational-safety-and-health/WCMS_249278/lang--en/index.htm [Accessed 10 October 2022].
2. Shao B, Hu Z, Liu Q, Chen S, He W. Fatal accident patterns of building construction activi-ties in China. Safety Science. 2019;111:253-263. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2018.07.019
3. Aneziris ON, Topali E, Papazoglou IA. Occupational risk of building construc-tion. Reliability Engineering & System Safety. 2012;105:36-46. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2011.11.003
4. Meng X, Chan AHS. Improving the Safety Performance of Construction Workers through Individual Perception and Organizational Collectivity: A Contrastive Research between Mainland China and Hong Kong. International Journal of Environmental Research and Pub-lic Health. 2022;19(21):14599. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114599
5. Baah B, Acheampong A, Osei-Asibey D, Afful AE. Assessing the role of respectable en-gagement in improving construction employee’s safety perception. Smart and Sustaina-ble Built Environment. Published online October 25, 2022. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/sasbe-04-2022-0073
6. Jeelani I, Han K, Albert A. Development of immersive personalized training environment for construction workers. In Computing in civil engineering 2017: 407-415.
7. Carter G, Smith SD. Safety Hazard Identification on Construction Projects. Journal of Con-struction Engineering and Management. 2006;132(2):197-205. doi:https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)0733-9364(2006)132:2(197)
8. Carrillo-Castrillo JA, Trillo-Cabello AF, Rubio-Romero JC. Construction accidents: identi-fication of the main associations between causes, mechanisms and stages of the con-struction process. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics. 2016;23(2):240-250. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2016.1245507
9. Whitaker SM, Graves RJ, James M, McCann P. Safety with access scaffolds: Development of a prototype decision aid based on accident analysis. Journal of Safety Research. 2003;34(3):249-261. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-4375(03)00025-2
10. Amissah J, Badu E, Agyei-Baffour P, Nakua EK, Mensah I. Predisposing factors influencing occupational injury among frontline building construction workers in Ghana. BMC Re-search Notes. 2019;12(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-019-4744-8
11. Eyiah AK, Kheni NA, Quartey PD. An Assessment of Occupational Health and Safety Reg-ulations in Ghana: A Study of the Construction Industry. Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research. 2019;07(02):11-31. doi:https://doi.org/10.4236/jbcpr.2019.72002
12. Osei-Asibey D, Ayarkwa J, Acheampong A, Adinyira E, Amoah P. An Examination of Causes of Accidents and Hazards in the Ghanaian Construction Industry. Open Journal of Safety Science and Technology. 2021;11(02):66-88. doi:https://doi.org/10.4236/ojsst.2021.112006
13. Stackhouse M, Turner N. How do organizational practices relate to perceived system safety effectiveness? Perceptions of safety climate and co-worker commitment to safety as workplace safety signals. Journal of Safety Research. 2019;70:59-69. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2019.04.002
14. Smith GS, Huang YH, Ho M, Chen PY. The relationship between safety climate and injury rates across industries: The need to adjust for injury hazards. Accident Analysis & Preven-tion. 2006;38(3):556-562. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2005.11.013
15. Fatonade OO, Allotey SE. An assessment of health hazards in the Ghanaian building in-dustry: sources and preventive measures. International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology. 2016;5:239-47.
16. Ghana Statistical Service. Ghana 2021 Population and Housing Census. General Report Volume 3A. Population of Regions and Districts Report. 2021 https://statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/fileUpload/pressrelease/2021%20PHC%20General%20Report%20Vol%203A_Population%20of%20Regions%20and%20Districts_181121.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2022]
17. Abhijith R, Deepika CP, Mirfath PN, Menon S. Psychosocial and Occupational Hazards in Kerala Construction Industry. InProceedings of SECON'19: Structural Engineering and Construction Management 3 2020 (pp. 655-664). Springer International Publishing.
18. Okoye PU. Occupational Health and Safety Risk Levels of Building Construction Trades in Nigeria. Construction Economics and Building. 2018;18(2):92-109. doi:https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v18i2.5882
19. Taro Yamane. Statistics ; an Introductory Analysis. Harper & Row; 1974.
20. Boakye MK, Adanu SK, Coffie GH, Adzivor EK, Ayimah JC. Building Construction Artisans’ Level of Access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the Perceived Barriers and Motivating Factors of Adherence to Its Use. A. Al-Khatib I, ed. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. 2022;2022:1-13. doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4870731
21. Boakye MK, Adanu SK, Adzivor EK, Coffie GH, Ayimah JC. Factors influencing health and safety performance at construction sites in Ghana: the perspective of building arti-sans. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics. Published online Au-gust 11, 2022:1-23. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2022.2112444
22. Abinaya Ishwarya GK, Rajkumar D. Analysis of ergonomic risk factors in construction industry. Materials Today: Proceedings. 2021;37:2415-2418. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.08.269
23. Fordjour GA, Chan APC, Tuffour-Kwarteng L. Exploring Construction Employees’ Per-spectives on the Potential Causes of Psychological Health Conditions in the Construction Industry: A Study in Ghana. International Journal of Construction Education and Research. 2020:1-21. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/15578771.2020.1804491
24. Boakye MK, Adanu SK. On-site building construction workers perspective on environ-mental impacts of construction-related activities: a relative importance index (RII) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) approach. You S, ed. Sustainable Environment. 2022;8(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/27658511.2022.2141158
25. Akadiri OP. Development of a Multi-Criteria Approach for the Selection of Sustainable Ma-terials for Building Projects. Wolverhampton: University of Wolverhampton; 2011.
26. Rezaeian N, Tang L, Hardie M. Psychosocial hazards and risks in the construction indus-try in New South Wales, Australia. In Proceedings of the 9th World Construction Symposi-um 2021 on Reshaping construction: Strategic, Structural and Cultural Transformations towards the 'Next Normal', 9-10 July 2021, Sri Lanka, 2021
27. Enshassi A, El-Rayyes Y, Alkilani S. Job stress, job burnout and safety performance in the Palestinian construction industry. Journal of Financial Management of Property and Con-struction. 2015;20(2):170-187. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/jfmpc-01-2015-0004
28. Ayarkwa J, Agyekum K, Acheampong A. Ghanaian construction professionals' perception on challenges to female retention in the construction industry. Journal of Construction Project Management and Innovation. 2012;2(2):360-76.
29. Leka S, Jain A, World Health Organization. Health impact of psychosocial hazards at work: an overview. 2010. World Health Organization, Geneva.
30. Otoo KN, Ulbrich N, Asafu-Adjaye P. Unions can make a difference: Ghanaian workers in a Chinese construction firm at Bui Dam site. Labour Research & Policy Institute; 2013.
31. Tiwary G, Gangopadhyay PK, Biswas S, Nayak K, Chakraborty D, Halder L. Psychosocial stress of the building construction workers. Human Biology Review. 2013;2(3):207-2.
32. Ametepey SO, Gyadu-Asiedu W, Assah-Kissiedu M. Causes-effects relationship of con-struction project delays in Ghana: Focusing on local government projects. In Advances in Human Factors, Sustainable Urban Planning and Infrastructure: Proceedings of the AHFE 2017 International Conference on Human Factors, Sustainable Urban Planning and Infra-structure, July 17− 21, 2017, The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, California, USA 8 2018 (pp. 84-95). Springer International Publishing.
33. Mustapha Z, Akomah BB, Baiden J. Impact of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Construction Workers in Ghana. Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Con-struction Management. 2022;10(1):129-139. doi:https://doi.org/10.2478/bjreecm-2022-0009
34. Hajaghazadeh M, Marvi-milan H, Khalkhali H, Mohebbi I. Assessing the ergonomic expo-sure for construction workers during construction of residential buildings. Work. 2019;62(3):411-419. doi:https://doi.org/10.3233/wor-192876
35. Lop NSB, Salleh NM, Zain FMY, Saidin MT. Ergonomic Risk Factors (ERF) and their Asso-ciation with Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) among Malaysian Construction Trade Workers: Concreters. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 2019;9(9). doi:https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v9-i9/6420
36. Al-Bouwarthan M, Quinn MM, Kriebel D, Wegman DH. Assessment of heat stress expo-sure among construction workers in the hot desert climate of Saudi Arabia. Annals of Work Exposures and Health. 2019;63(5):505-20.
37. Han SR, Wei M, Wu Z, et al. Perceptions of workplace heat exposure and adaption behav-iors among Chinese construction workers in the context of climate change. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12231-4
38. Lissah SY, Ayanore MA, Krugu JK, Aberese-Ako M, Ruiter RAC. Managing urban solid waste in Ghana: Perspectives and experiences of municipal waste company managers and supervisors in an urban municipality. Xue B, ed. PLOS ONE. 2021;16(3):e0248392. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248392
39. Obiri BD, Obeng EA, Oduro KA, et al. Farmers’ perceptions of herbicide usage in forest landscape restoration programs in Ghana. Scientific African. 2021;11:e00672. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2020.e00672
40. Ayarkwa J, Acheampong A, Hackman JK, Agyekum K. Environmental Impact of Construc-tion Site Activities in Ghana. ADRRI Journal (Multidisciplinary). 2014;9(9):1-18. https://doi.org/10.55058/adrrij.v9i9.131
2. Shao B, Hu Z, Liu Q, Chen S, He W. Fatal accident patterns of building construction activi-ties in China. Safety Science. 2019;111:253-263. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2018.07.019
3. Aneziris ON, Topali E, Papazoglou IA. Occupational risk of building construc-tion. Reliability Engineering & System Safety. 2012;105:36-46. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2011.11.003
4. Meng X, Chan AHS. Improving the Safety Performance of Construction Workers through Individual Perception and Organizational Collectivity: A Contrastive Research between Mainland China and Hong Kong. International Journal of Environmental Research and Pub-lic Health. 2022;19(21):14599. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114599
5. Baah B, Acheampong A, Osei-Asibey D, Afful AE. Assessing the role of respectable en-gagement in improving construction employee’s safety perception. Smart and Sustaina-ble Built Environment. Published online October 25, 2022. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/sasbe-04-2022-0073
6. Jeelani I, Han K, Albert A. Development of immersive personalized training environment for construction workers. In Computing in civil engineering 2017: 407-415.
7. Carter G, Smith SD. Safety Hazard Identification on Construction Projects. Journal of Con-struction Engineering and Management. 2006;132(2):197-205. doi:https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)0733-9364(2006)132:2(197)
8. Carrillo-Castrillo JA, Trillo-Cabello AF, Rubio-Romero JC. Construction accidents: identi-fication of the main associations between causes, mechanisms and stages of the con-struction process. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics. 2016;23(2):240-250. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2016.1245507
9. Whitaker SM, Graves RJ, James M, McCann P. Safety with access scaffolds: Development of a prototype decision aid based on accident analysis. Journal of Safety Research. 2003;34(3):249-261. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-4375(03)00025-2
10. Amissah J, Badu E, Agyei-Baffour P, Nakua EK, Mensah I. Predisposing factors influencing occupational injury among frontline building construction workers in Ghana. BMC Re-search Notes. 2019;12(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-019-4744-8
11. Eyiah AK, Kheni NA, Quartey PD. An Assessment of Occupational Health and Safety Reg-ulations in Ghana: A Study of the Construction Industry. Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research. 2019;07(02):11-31. doi:https://doi.org/10.4236/jbcpr.2019.72002
12. Osei-Asibey D, Ayarkwa J, Acheampong A, Adinyira E, Amoah P. An Examination of Causes of Accidents and Hazards in the Ghanaian Construction Industry. Open Journal of Safety Science and Technology. 2021;11(02):66-88. doi:https://doi.org/10.4236/ojsst.2021.112006
13. Stackhouse M, Turner N. How do organizational practices relate to perceived system safety effectiveness? Perceptions of safety climate and co-worker commitment to safety as workplace safety signals. Journal of Safety Research. 2019;70:59-69. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2019.04.002
14. Smith GS, Huang YH, Ho M, Chen PY. The relationship between safety climate and injury rates across industries: The need to adjust for injury hazards. Accident Analysis & Preven-tion. 2006;38(3):556-562. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2005.11.013
15. Fatonade OO, Allotey SE. An assessment of health hazards in the Ghanaian building in-dustry: sources and preventive measures. International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology. 2016;5:239-47.
16. Ghana Statistical Service. Ghana 2021 Population and Housing Census. General Report Volume 3A. Population of Regions and Districts Report. 2021 https://statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/fileUpload/pressrelease/2021%20PHC%20General%20Report%20Vol%203A_Population%20of%20Regions%20and%20Districts_181121.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2022]
17. Abhijith R, Deepika CP, Mirfath PN, Menon S. Psychosocial and Occupational Hazards in Kerala Construction Industry. InProceedings of SECON'19: Structural Engineering and Construction Management 3 2020 (pp. 655-664). Springer International Publishing.
18. Okoye PU. Occupational Health and Safety Risk Levels of Building Construction Trades in Nigeria. Construction Economics and Building. 2018;18(2):92-109. doi:https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v18i2.5882
19. Taro Yamane. Statistics ; an Introductory Analysis. Harper & Row; 1974.
20. Boakye MK, Adanu SK, Coffie GH, Adzivor EK, Ayimah JC. Building Construction Artisans’ Level of Access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the Perceived Barriers and Motivating Factors of Adherence to Its Use. A. Al-Khatib I, ed. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. 2022;2022:1-13. doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4870731
21. Boakye MK, Adanu SK, Adzivor EK, Coffie GH, Ayimah JC. Factors influencing health and safety performance at construction sites in Ghana: the perspective of building arti-sans. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics. Published online Au-gust 11, 2022:1-23. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2022.2112444
22. Abinaya Ishwarya GK, Rajkumar D. Analysis of ergonomic risk factors in construction industry. Materials Today: Proceedings. 2021;37:2415-2418. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.08.269
23. Fordjour GA, Chan APC, Tuffour-Kwarteng L. Exploring Construction Employees’ Per-spectives on the Potential Causes of Psychological Health Conditions in the Construction Industry: A Study in Ghana. International Journal of Construction Education and Research. 2020:1-21. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/15578771.2020.1804491
24. Boakye MK, Adanu SK. On-site building construction workers perspective on environ-mental impacts of construction-related activities: a relative importance index (RII) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) approach. You S, ed. Sustainable Environment. 2022;8(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/27658511.2022.2141158
25. Akadiri OP. Development of a Multi-Criteria Approach for the Selection of Sustainable Ma-terials for Building Projects. Wolverhampton: University of Wolverhampton; 2011.
26. Rezaeian N, Tang L, Hardie M. Psychosocial hazards and risks in the construction indus-try in New South Wales, Australia. In Proceedings of the 9th World Construction Symposi-um 2021 on Reshaping construction: Strategic, Structural and Cultural Transformations towards the 'Next Normal', 9-10 July 2021, Sri Lanka, 2021
27. Enshassi A, El-Rayyes Y, Alkilani S. Job stress, job burnout and safety performance in the Palestinian construction industry. Journal of Financial Management of Property and Con-struction. 2015;20(2):170-187. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/jfmpc-01-2015-0004
28. Ayarkwa J, Agyekum K, Acheampong A. Ghanaian construction professionals' perception on challenges to female retention in the construction industry. Journal of Construction Project Management and Innovation. 2012;2(2):360-76.
29. Leka S, Jain A, World Health Organization. Health impact of psychosocial hazards at work: an overview. 2010. World Health Organization, Geneva.
30. Otoo KN, Ulbrich N, Asafu-Adjaye P. Unions can make a difference: Ghanaian workers in a Chinese construction firm at Bui Dam site. Labour Research & Policy Institute; 2013.
31. Tiwary G, Gangopadhyay PK, Biswas S, Nayak K, Chakraborty D, Halder L. Psychosocial stress of the building construction workers. Human Biology Review. 2013;2(3):207-2.
32. Ametepey SO, Gyadu-Asiedu W, Assah-Kissiedu M. Causes-effects relationship of con-struction project delays in Ghana: Focusing on local government projects. In Advances in Human Factors, Sustainable Urban Planning and Infrastructure: Proceedings of the AHFE 2017 International Conference on Human Factors, Sustainable Urban Planning and Infra-structure, July 17− 21, 2017, The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, California, USA 8 2018 (pp. 84-95). Springer International Publishing.
33. Mustapha Z, Akomah BB, Baiden J. Impact of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Construction Workers in Ghana. Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Con-struction Management. 2022;10(1):129-139. doi:https://doi.org/10.2478/bjreecm-2022-0009
34. Hajaghazadeh M, Marvi-milan H, Khalkhali H, Mohebbi I. Assessing the ergonomic expo-sure for construction workers during construction of residential buildings. Work. 2019;62(3):411-419. doi:https://doi.org/10.3233/wor-192876
35. Lop NSB, Salleh NM, Zain FMY, Saidin MT. Ergonomic Risk Factors (ERF) and their Asso-ciation with Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) among Malaysian Construction Trade Workers: Concreters. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 2019;9(9). doi:https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v9-i9/6420
36. Al-Bouwarthan M, Quinn MM, Kriebel D, Wegman DH. Assessment of heat stress expo-sure among construction workers in the hot desert climate of Saudi Arabia. Annals of Work Exposures and Health. 2019;63(5):505-20.
37. Han SR, Wei M, Wu Z, et al. Perceptions of workplace heat exposure and adaption behav-iors among Chinese construction workers in the context of climate change. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12231-4
38. Lissah SY, Ayanore MA, Krugu JK, Aberese-Ako M, Ruiter RAC. Managing urban solid waste in Ghana: Perspectives and experiences of municipal waste company managers and supervisors in an urban municipality. Xue B, ed. PLOS ONE. 2021;16(3):e0248392. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248392
39. Obiri BD, Obeng EA, Oduro KA, et al. Farmers’ perceptions of herbicide usage in forest landscape restoration programs in Ghana. Scientific African. 2021;11:e00672. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2020.e00672
40. Ayarkwa J, Acheampong A, Hackman JK, Agyekum K. Environmental Impact of Construc-tion Site Activities in Ghana. ADRRI Journal (Multidisciplinary). 2014;9(9):1-18. https://doi.org/10.55058/adrrij.v9i9.131
Article Sidebar
Published
Jun 12, 2023
Article Details
How to Cite
1.
Boakye M, Adanu SK, Adu-Gyamfi C, Asare RK, Asantewaa-Tannor P, Ayimah JC, et al. A Relative Importance Index Approach to On-Site Building Construction Workers’ Perception of Occupational Hazards Assessment. Med Lav [Internet]. 2023 Jun. 12 [cited 2024 Jul. 26];114(3):e2023024. Available from: https://mattioli1885journals.com/index.php/lamedicinadellavoro/article/view/14240
Issue
Section
Original articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Reproductions with commercial intent will require written permission and payment of royalties.
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Boakye M, Adanu SK, Adu-Gyamfi C, Asare RK, Asantewaa-Tannor P, Ayimah JC, et al. A Relative Importance Index Approach to On-Site Building Construction Workers’ Perception of Occupational Hazards Assessment. Med Lav [Internet]. 2023 Jun. 12 [cited 2024 Jul. 26];114(3):e2023024. Available from: https://mattioli1885journals.com/index.php/lamedicinadellavoro/article/view/14240
