Work Stress among Professionals in Building Construction Industry in Nigeria

Abstract

This study was undertaken to identify key stress factors among professionals in the building construction industry in Nigeria. This is in view of the fact that to date, very little is known about work stress among professionals in the building construction industry in this country. The study involved the administration of a questionnaire to 107 professionals including architects, builders, civil/structural engineers and quantity surveyors randomly selected from 60 ongoing building projects in Anambra, Ogun and Kaduna States, Nigeria. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and findings show that the principal sources of stress were high volume of work, uncomfortable site offices, lack of feedback on previous and ongoing building projects, and variations in the scope of work in ongoing building projects. The paper suggests that taking responsibility for work which one has adequate capacity to handle, establishing realistic budgets and time frames for project delivery, provision of spatially adequate, visually and thermally comfortable site offices, adoption of appropriate job design practices and education of professionals in stress management will reduce the incidence of stress among professionals in the building industry in Nigeria.

Psychological stress and musculoskeletal problems among unorganized building construction workers in Chiplun, Ratnagiri district, India

“…However, contrary to our findings, a higher percentage of "extreme high strain" workers were reported by Khagendra and Rachna [17] and Gaurav et al [5] In another similar study done by Tiwary et al, [6] 60% of the workers in the study experienced psychological stress and strain. Ibem et al [18] reported lower rates of psychological strain and stress as compared to this study. The difference may be due to different geographical settings.…”

Framing stress and associated behaviours at work

“…Larsson et al, 2008;Bowen et al, 2014;Rowlinson et al, 2014) and hard manual activities (e.g. Dembe et al, 2005;Ibem et al, 2011;Chan, Leung & Yuan, 2014). The great majority of studies that have investigated the nature of stress among construction workers have been predominantly quantitative.…”

Appraisal of Strategy Adopted by Construction Professionals for Coping with Stress

“…Although numerous research has been conducted regarding stress confronting construction professionals like: (Bowen et al 2013;Cattell et al 2016;Ibem et al 2011;Leung et al 2017). However, those studies have failed to appraise the strategies adopted by construction professionals for coping with stress.…”

“…Lv et al (2017) affirmed that stress is not attributed to a particular industry although the construction industry has a reputation for being a stressful industry. Ibem et al (2011) opined that the stress experienced in the construction industry originates from the working condition of the industry. Likewise, Leung et al (2017) recognised that the construction industry production process is the primary source of stress confronting construction workers.…”

“…This is because the construction stage of a project is denoted with long working hours coupled with constant pressures from project managers. Ibem et al (2011) revealed that the hazards experienced in construction sit could be related to the stress confronting construction workers. Aside from the dangers occurring on a construction site due to stress.…”