Work, Health and Wellbeing in the Construction Industry

This book covers a wide range of topics relating to the health and wellbeing of the construction workforce. Based on more than two decades of work examining various aspects of workers’ health and wellbeing, the book addresses a key topic in construction management: how the design of work environments, construction processes and organisation of work impact upon construction workers’ physical and psychological health.

Occupational health is a significant problem for the construction industry. However, the subject of health does not receive as much attention in occupational health and safety research or practice as the subject of safety. Traditional management approaches (focused on the prevention of accidents and injuries) are arguably ill-suited to addressing issues of workers’ health and wellbeing. This book seeks to explain how workers’ health and wellbeing are impacted by working in the construction sector, and suggest ways in which organisations (and decision makers within them) can positively shape workplaces and practices in ways that better support construction workers to maintain healthy and productive working lives.

Including chapter summaries and discussion questions to encourage student readers to reflect on and formulate their own viewpoints about the issues raised in each chapter, the book has the potential to be used as a textbook in undergraduate or postgraduate occupational health and safety, or construction management courses dealing with occupational health and safety. It could also be used as supplementary recommended reading in undergraduate or postgraduate programmes in architecture, engineering or management.

Author Biography

Helen Lingard is RMIT Distinguished Professor and Director of The Centre for Construction Work Health and Safety Research at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Helen has been an active researcher in the field of construction work health and safety for more than 20 years. Helen has authored or co-authored three other books published by Taylor & Francis.

Michelle Turner is an Associate Professor at the School of Property, Construction and Project Management, is a member of The Centre for Construction Work Health and Safety Research at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, and co-leads the Health and Wellbeing stream with Distinguished Professor Helen Lingard. Michelle has more than fifteen years of experience working with the construction industry in her capacity as a health, wellbeing and resilience researcher.