Analysis of Work-Related Psychological Injury Severity among Construction Trades Workers
Publication: Journal of Management in Engineering
Volume 39, Issue 2
Abstract
Poor mental health has become rampant in the construction industry globally, causing productivity and profit losses for organizations as well as disabilities and diminished quality of life for workers. Addressing the challenge is critical for a progressive industry and healthy workforce. Existing literature discusses the causes and effects of poor mental health among construction workers. Yet, it does not, based on real-world incident data, explain vulnerable trades, common incident mechanisms, and recurring psychological injuries, nor does it examine variations of lost time within the incident severity outcome due to psychological injuries. The present study addresses these gaps by analyzing workers’ compensation offered to construction trades workers from 2008 to 2019 for psychological injuries in the Australian construction industry. Carpenters and joiners, electricians, plant operators, structural steel workers, and construction and plumbing laborers suffered more permanently incapacitating psychological injuries than other trades. Workers in projects located in metro, small rural towns, and very remote regions were more heavily represented in permanently incapacitating psychological injuries than workers in other locations. The worst psychological injury, which resulted in a combination of permanent incapacity and an extended period of lost time (over 3,000 h), was caused by anxiety combined with depression or stress, or posttraumatic stress disorder from experiencing traumatic incidents, workplace violence and bullying, or vehicle incidents. Age and gender of workers did not show a statistically significant association with psychological injuries. The findings offer practical insights for developing optimized occupational health and safety management programs for improving the mental health of construction workers.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code used during the study were provided by a third party. Direct requests for these materials may be made to the provider as indicated in the Acknowledgments.
Acknowledgments
This article uses data supplied by Safe Work Australia and has been compiled in collaboration with state, territory, and Commonwealth workers’ compensation regulators. The views expressed are of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of Safe Work Australia or the state, territory, and Commonwealth workers’ compensation regulators. The authors would like to thank Safe Work Australia for providing with the data set for the research. Without their support, the research would not have been possible.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Management in Engineering
Volume 39 • Issue 2 • March 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 23, 2022
Accepted: Nov 4, 2022
Published online: Jan 2, 2023
Published in print: Mar 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jun 2, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Business management
- Construction (by type)
- Construction engineering
- Construction industry
- Construction management
- Employee compensation and benefits
- Employment
- Human and behavioral factors
- Infrastructure
- Labor
- Occupational safety
- Personnel management
- Practice and Profession
- Public administration
- Public health and safety
- Safety
- Steel construction
- Traffic accidents
- Traffic engineering
- Traffic management
- Transportation engineering
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