Work-related factors affecting mental well-being of young construction workers in South Australia
Built Environment Project and Asset Management
ISSN: 2044-124X
Article publication date: 21 October 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Many 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/approach
The 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.
Findings
The 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/value
The 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.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the contributions made by Muhammad Moiz Ali, Guneet Mann Singh, Daya Singh Malhi and Suvrat Goyal of the University of South Australia in collecting research data.
Citation
Tennakoon, T.M.M.P., Ranasinghe, U., Samaraweera, A., Rameezdeen, R., Gallage, S., Newman, W.R., White, B.J. and Lim, D.N.T.W. (2024), "Work-related factors affecting mental well-being of young construction workers in South Australia", Built Environment Project and Asset Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-12-2023-0233
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited