Assessing Worker Health and Well-Being in Construction: Case of Seattle

Increase in chronic diseases amongst the U.S. workforce results in reduced productivity and increased medical care costs. The shortage of manpower against the growing demand has also forced many workers to work overtime multiple days a week. It is therefore important to study and understand a worker’s health holistically, considering not only physical health but also mental health, work-life balance, stress, and safety. Total worker health takes factors relating to geography, industry, workload, family, travel time, etc. into consideration and thus, is a comprehensive approach to interpret worker health and well-being. This paper aims to study the total worker health of the people employed in the construction industry. An anonymous survey was conducted with worker participants from various construction trades in Seattle, the crane capital of America in 2018. Analysis of the survey results highlighted aspects that could impact total worker health in construction. One of our findings indicated that workers who put in the most physical effort had trouble sleeping at night. The physical demand and pace of work also seemed to be the contributing factors to troubled sleep. Age of the workers was found to play an important role in the commuting patterns and one’s ability to maintain a work-life balance. We consider this preliminary understanding of the important aspects key to designing sensible measurements (e.g., well-being index) as well as strategic interventions to promote the well-being of construction workers and facilitate a positive work environment for the industry.