Impacts of Stressors and Stress on the Injury Incidents of

Construction Workers in Hong Kong

Mei-yung Leung1; Yee-Shan Chan2; and Ka-Wing Yuen3

Abstract: Construction workers 共CWs兲 are the key and indispensable contributors to every construction project. Their psychological
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feelings greatly influence their behaviors and safety performance. To improve CWs’ safety performance in dangerous working environ-
ment, the current research aims to identify the various stressors affecting two types of stress of CWs 共i.e., job stress and emotional stress兲
and to explore the impacts of the two types of stress on CW injury incidents in Hong Kong. Eleven stressors were identified through factor
analysis: work overload, role ambiguity, lack of autonomy, unfair reward and treatment, appropriate safety equipment, optimism, interrole
conflict, poor workgroup relationship, lack of feedback, poor physical environment, and unsafe environment. The results of correlation
and regression analyses reveal that 共1兲 among the two types of stress identified, injury incident of CWs was found to be affected by
emotional stress only, 共2兲 emotional stress is predicted by work overload, interrole conflict, poor physical environment, unfair reward and
treatment, and appropriate safety equipments, and 共3兲 poor workgroup relationship, work overload, and interrole conflict predict job stress
of CWs. Based on the result, various recommendations are suggested to employers on how to minimize CW injury incidents.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲CO.1943-7862.0000216
CE Database subject headings: Construction industry; Injuries; Human factors; Accidents; Hong Kong; Occupational safety; Oc-
cupational health.
Author keywords: Construction workers; Emotional stress; Injury incidents; Job stress; Stressors.

Introduction industrial environment, have driven construction personnel to be

predominately production-oriented at the expense of the health
As staff in various work trades of construction projects 共such as and safety needs of CWs 共Mitropoulos et al. 2005兲. Facing repeti-
concrete work, machine and crane operation, plumbing and pip- tive but physically demanding tasks within crisis-ridden environ-
ing, painting, electrical work, carpentry, and so on兲, construction ments, having little power, and lack of support and concern from
workers 共CWs兲 are the front-line force of every construction their organizations and the public, CWs are 1.7 times more likely
than workers in other industries to have psychological health
project 共Fung et al. 2005兲. The performance of CWs has direct
problem, including emotional and stress-related problems 共Pe-
and significant impacts on the success of construction projects
tersen and Zwerling 1998兲. Stress affects CWs’ awareness of and
and on the profitability of construction companies 共Applebaum
compliance with safety measures 共Choudhry and Fang 2008兲,
1999兲. In Hong Kong, an average of 257 injury incidents occurs which are the major causes of occupational injury incidents
every month among the 267,800 laborers in the construction in- 共Mearns et al. 2001兲. The current study, therefore, aims to inves-
dustry 共HK Census and Statistics Department 2008兲. Statistics tigate the impacts of stress on CW injury incidents and to explore
also show that the construction industry’s injury incident in Hong the various stressors affecting CW stress levels.
Kong is the highest among all industries in the territory; indeed,
CWs were the victim in 75% of all annual occupational fatalities Stressors of CWs
in Hong Kong in 2008 共HK Census and Statistics Department
2008兲. The often tight project budgets and schedules in Hong Arising from monotonous but demanding task conditions, inad-
Kong, even tighter nowadays due to the adverse economic and equate interpersonal support, deficient organizational safety cli-
mates, poor physical environments, and unbalanced effort-reward
1 systems, stress can often easily manifest itself as tension or dis-
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Building and Construction, City Univ.
of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Ave., Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 共correspond- satisfaction and can influence the psychological health and per-
ing author兲. E-mail: bcmei@cityu.edu.hk formance 共i.e., ineffectiveness, injuries, and low productivity兲 of
2
Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Building and Construction, City Univ. of individuals 共Cooper and Sutherland 1987; Djebarni 1996; Mearns
Hong Kong, Tat Chee Ave., Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. E-mail: et al. 2001; Siu et al. 2004兲. Based on the previous stress man-
isabelle@student.cityu.edu.hk agement research in the construction industry 共Leung et al. 2007,
3
Assistant Quantity Surveyor, Davis Langdon & Seah Hong Kong
2008a, 2009兲, stressors faced by CWs can be categorized into five
Limited, 2101 Leighton Centre, 77 Leighton Rd., Hong Kong, China.
E-mail: kawyuen2@alumni.cityu.edu.hk
groups: task-related, organizational, personal, interpersonal, and
Note. This manuscript was submitted on July 3, 2009; approved on physical.
March 12, 2010; published online on March 16, 2010. Discussion period
open until March 1, 2011; separate discussions must be submitted for Task Stressors
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, Vol. 136, No. 10, October 1, 2010. Though the work of CWs is often repetitive 共e.g., painting and
©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9364/2010/10-1093–1103/$25.00. excavating on ground兲, it is generally demanding in nature, both

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J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 2010.136:1093-1103.

 cognitively and physically. Work overload, which means that the 1981; Reese and Eidson 2006兲. However, due to their low posi-
job demands are too great for one individual 共Margolis et al. tion in the industry, CWs often receive inadequate feedback or
1974兲, not only affects individuals’ stress levels but is also asso- attention from their supervisors and from management personnel.
ciated with occupational injury incidents 共Frone 1998; Elfering This lack of adequate feedback induces stress on CWs 共Leung
et al. 2006兲. On the other hand, as CWs’ education levels are et al. 2007兲.
generally low, unclear communication with foremen and col-
leagues can occur and may easily lead to vague understandings of
Physical Stressors
work responsibilities and objectives. Hence, role ambiguity,
which is defined as a lack of clarity about the expectations of the CWs work on construction sites wherein they must endure poor
work role and about the scope and responsibilities of the job physical environments with conditions such as extreme tempera-
共Beehr 1995; Leung et al. 2009; Rizzo et al. 1970兲, can easily tures, poor air quality, and excessive noise. Prolonged periods of
occur. In addition, many construction projects in Hong Kong are working in adverse physical environments not only induce stress
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subcontracted, a phenomenon that carries multiple layers of au- in individuals 共Vischer 2007兲 but also affect their safety and their
thority and an organizational hierarchy in which CWs are nor- ability to perform tasks 共Driskell and Salas 1991; Goldenhar et al.
mally positioned at the lowest level. Owing to their limited 2003兲. On the other hand, poor housekeeping 共e.g., the improper
understanding of projects, CWs have limited control and thus a placement of equipment and insufficient indicators and lighting兲
lack of autonomy in their work. Lack of autonomy, which is de- can also cause hazards to CWs on construction sites. These unsafe
fined as “the degree to which the job provides substantial free- working environments may then induce stress in individual CWs
dom, independence, and discretion in scheduling the work and in and lead to higher on-site injury incidents.
determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out” 共Hack-
man and Oldham 1975; p. 162兲, was found to predict stress level
of individuals 共Beehr 1995; Kalleberg et al. 2009兲. Stresses and CW Injury Incidents

Organizational Stressors When discussing “stress” in the construction industry, people

have in the past generally been referring to the forces or pressures
Rewards and treatment of CWs are often overlooked due to their exerted on or borne by particular parts of a building structure. In
low position in organizations or even unreasonably diminished today’s society, however, people have started to become aware of
due to projects’ tight budgets. Insufficient and unfair rewards and “human stress,” especially the stress experienced by construction
treatment increase people’s vulnerability to stress 共Maslanka industry personnel 共CIOB 2006; Janssen et al. 2001; Leung et al.
1996; Niedhammer et al. 2006兲. On the other hand, though ensur- 2009兲. Nevertheless, the definition of “stress” still varies from
ing safe working environments is the responsibility of organiza- researcher to researcher. In order to be comprehensive, the current
tions, employers may still fail to provide appropriate and study investigates two different types of stress among CWs: job
regularly maintained safety equipment to CWs on site 共Hinze stress and emotional stress.
1988; Zou et al. 2007兲. Going without appropriate safety equip- Job stress is induced when there are discrepancies between an
ment certainly induces psychological stress in CWs, who work in individual’s expected ability to deal effectively with the given
crisis-ridden environments every day. tasks and his or her actual ability to do so 共Gmelch 1982; Leung
et al. 2008b; Monat and Lazarus 1991兲. It refers to the evaluation
of a threat or source of stress arising from cognitive factors, such
Personal Stressors
as the number of construction work tasks handled by CWs, the
Type A behavior is a behavior pattern characterized to be aggres- level of difficulty of their tasks, the degree of skills required 共e.g.,
sive, competitive, hasty, time impatient, insecure about status, new techniques for innovative construction methods兲, and the
hostile, self-critical, and incapable of relaxing. Individuals with number of people that they have to work with 共e.g., colleagues,
type A behavior are more vulnerable to stress 共Friedman and supervisors, foremen, and CWs in other work trades兲. When the
Roseman 1974; Evans 1990; Leung et al. 2008a兲. In contrast, outside expectations exerted on individuals exceed those indi-
individuals with high levels of optimism maintain a positive view viduals’ abilities, overstimulation can occur. In such situations,
of personal situations and believe that people and events are in- CWs may tend to put more effort into their work tasks and be less
herently good. Hence, optimistic individuals are reported to suffer alert to safety. Subsequently, injury incidents can occur on-site
less stress, depression, and burnout 共Scheier and Carver 1992; 共Goldenhar et al. 2003; Rundmo 1995兲.
Hayes and Weathington 2007兲. Emotional stress occurs when, due to prolonged exposure to
stressful conditions, individuals are emotionally drained, chroni-
cally fatigued, and lose the ability to devote themselves to their
Interpersonal Stressors
job duties 共Goliszek 1992兲. Emotional stress can further lead to
Role conflict occurs when the different roles with which a person feelings of frustration and exhaustion 共Cordes and Dougherty
identifies conflict with one another, affecting the performance of 1993兲. Individuals suffering from emotional stress may then ig-
these roles. Stress may result if one of these roles is overloaded nore safety requirements, resulting in an increased risk of injury
共Barnett and Marshall 1993; Leung et al. 2009兲. On the other incidents 共Alexander and Klein 2001; Elfering et al. 2006; Frone
hand, construction projects can be multiprocessing, as workers of 1998; McMurray 1968兲. In fact, emotional exhaustion is one of
different trades 共e.g., formwork, reinforcement, concreting兲 may the three widely adopted burnout symptoms defined by Maslach
work on a site at the same time. Communication and interaction et al. 共1996兲. Emotionally exhausted individuals may further ex-
between supervisors, colleagues, and different parties are neces- perience depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment
sary for CWs. A poor relationship within workgroups leads to 共i.e., the other two burnout symptoms兲. However, as the current
stress and poor performance 共Lundberg 2006兲, while good com- study contains variables which are similar to the later two symp-
munication between workers and foremen enhances safety 共Hinze toms, such as workgroup relationship and job stress, to prevent

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J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 2010.136:1093-1103.

 Task Stressors:
Work overload
Role Ambiguity
Lack of autonomy
Organizational Stressors:
Unfair reward & treatment Two Types of STRESS
Appropriate safety equipments
Personal Stressors: Job Stress
Type A behavior INJURY INCIDENT
Optimism
Interpersonal Stressors: Emotional Stress
Inter-role conflict
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Poor workgroup relationship

Lack of feedback
Physical Stressors:
Poor physical environment
Unsafe environment

Fig. 1. Conceptual model of stressors-stress-injury incident for CWs

including variables conveying essentially similar information in tionnaire was designed and disseminated to CWs in Hong Kong
the study, only the concept of emotional exhaustion is included in during the period of October 2008 to January 2009 via fax,
the study. e-mail, and in person. In order to control the quality of the data
Although the negative linear relationship between stress and collection and maximize the sample size, purposive sampling, in
performance is widely recognized, stress is not necessarily harm- which subjects are selected because of certain characteristic 共Pat-
ful 共Abramis 1994; Ivancevich et al. 2005; Jamal 1984; Robbins ton 1990兲, was adopted by sending out questionnaires to CWs
2005; Selye 1974兲. Excessive stress has negative impacts on in- who 共1兲 are a qualified skillful workers in specific areas 共e.g., bar
dividual performance, but insufficient stress can also have nega- bender and fixer, concreter, bamboo scaffolder, carpenter, metal
tive effects on performance 共Gmelch and Chan 1994; Leung et al. worker, excavator, bricklayer, building service, etc.兲 and 共2兲 work
2005兲. If outside expectations 共in terms of work tasks and emo- in the main streams 共i.e., main contractor and subcontractor firms兲
tion triggers兲 are not sufficiently high, individuals can suffer from in the construction industry in Hong Kong. The researchers ob-
understimulation 共Gmelch 1982兲. This has been especially true tained permission from management personnel of companies and
during the recent recession period in the construction industry, industrial institutions to proceed with the data collection. Of the
when CWs have not had enough work. In such situations of un- 500 distributed questionnaires, 142 were returned, representing a
derstimulation, individuals’ job satisfaction, motivation, and, response rate of 28.4%. Most of the respondents were in the age
more important, concentration decrease 共Varhol 2000兲. Risk of groups of 41–50 years old 共27.4%兲, 31–40 years old 共24.2%兲, or
injury incidents would increase if individuals’ concentration and 20–30 years old 共24.2%兲. Of the respondents, 19% were older
attention at work decrease 共Murray et al. 1997兲. Hence, both too than 50, while only 4.8% were younger than 20. More than 80%
much and too little stress can lead to high CW injury incidents. of the respondents had education levels of secondary education or
The current study predicts that the relationship between stress and below. This reflects the fact that CWs in Hong Kong are generally
CW injury incident are both linear and curvilinear 共i.e., inverted middle-aged and have comparatively low education levels.
U-shape兲 and only moderate stress levels lead to minimal injury
incidents in certain situations.
Questionnaire Development and Measurement
Conceptual Model Due to the low education levels of CWs, the questionnaire survey
was translated into Chinese 共i.e., the mother tongue of local CWs
In sum, it was hypothesized that the various task stressors, orga- in Hong Kong兲. Respondents were requested to answer the ques-
nizational stressors, personal stressors, interpersonal stressors, tionnaire based on their experience in a particular project they
and physical stressors induce job stress and emotional stress in stated at the beginning of the survey. A stressor scale 共items ex-
CWs, which further predict their injury incident. In fact, CWs tracted from scales developed and adopted by Calnan et al. 2000,
inevitably face uncontrollable stressors while working in the dy- Gmelch 1982, Leung et al. 2007, 2009, and Sims et al. 1976 refer
namic and fast-paced construction industry. The injury incident of to Table 2兲 and emotional stress scale 共items extracted from emo-
CWs is therefore always high in comparison to that of laborers of tional exhaustion scale developed by Maslach et al. 1996, refer to
various other industries. The conceptual model of the various Table 1兲 were included in the survey. Based on their experience in
stressors, types of stress, and injury incidents of CWs is illus- the particular project mentioned, respondents were asked to rate
trated in Fig. 1. their levels of agreement with the statements given on a seven-
point Likert scale, a scale ranging from 1 共strongly disagree兲 to 7
Research Methodology and Result 共strongly agree兲.
To determine job stress, discrepancies between respondents’
actual and expected abilities on various dimensions 共items ex-
Sample
tracted from job stress items developed by Gmelch 1982 and
To investigate the impacts of various stressors on the stress levels adopted by Leung et al. 2008a, refer to Table 1兲 were obtained.
of CWs and the effects of stress on CW injury incidents, a ques- Based on the same particular project, respondents were asked to

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 Table 1. Statements for the Two Types of Stress for CWs
Job stress Expected ability Actual ability Alpha
1. The number of tasks a兲 I have to do ___ b兲 I am capable of doing ___ 0.785
2. The level of difficulty of my work a兲 I have to deal with ___ b兲 I am capable of dealing with ___
3. The quality of work a兲 I have to do ___ b兲 I am capable of doing ___
4. The responsibility of my work a兲 I have to take ___ b兲 I am capable of handling ___
5. The degree of complexity of work a兲 I have to handle ___ b兲 I am capable of doing ___
6. The degree of skill a兲 I have to use ___ b兲 I am capable of using ___
7. The amount of work a兲 I have to do ___ b兲 I am capable of doing ___
8. The number of people a兲 I have to work with b兲 I would like to work with
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Emotional stress
1. I am fatigued in the morning as I face another day on the job. 0.920
2. I am used up at the end of the working day.
3. I worry about work during my hour off.
4. I am emotionally drained from my work.
Note: Respondents were requested to rate their levels of expected abilities and actual abilities on the job stress statements on the scale ranging from 1
共none兲 to 7 共a great deal兲; respondents were requested to rate their levels of agreement with the emotional stress statements given on a seven-point Likert
scale ranging from 1 共strongly disagree兲 to 7 共strongly agree兲.

rate their 共A兲 actual abilities and 共B兲 expected abilities in the ing work overload 共S1兲, role ambiguity 共S2兲, and lack of au-
various dimensions 共e.g., the number of tasks, the responsibility tonomy 共S3兲 for task stressors; unfair reward and treatment 共S4兲
of work兲 on a scale ranging from 1 共none兲 to 7 共a great deal兲 共i.e., and appropriate safety equipment 共S5兲 for organizational stres-
1—none, 2—little, 3—some, 4—average, 5—a bit more than av- sors; type A behavior 共S6兲 and optimism 共S7兲 for personal stres-
erage, 6—a lot, and 7—a great deal兲. The overall job stress levels sors; interrole conflict 共S8兲, poor workgroup relationship 共S9兲,
were then obtained by totaling the deviations between the ratings and lack of feedback 共S10兲 for interpersonal stressors; and poor
of 共A兲 and 共B兲. physical environment 共S11兲 and unsafe environment 共S12兲 for
Last, as a shorter reference period is desirable for obtaining a physical stressors 共refer to Table 2兲. Items with factor loadings
more accurate estimate 共Landen and Hendrick 1995兲, the respon- below 0.6 共i.e., s9, s20, s27, s28, and s34兲 and factors with Cron-
dent CWs were asked to report the number of injury incidents bach’s ␣ values under 0.6 共i.e., S6-type A behavior兲 were re-
they had in the same particular project during the two years prior moved from the further analyses in order to ensure that items
to taking the survey, though the duration of the particular project under the same factors are measuring the same underlying con-
may deviate. The measurement of incidents in this study covers struct. All items loaded onto appropriate factors as predicted ex-
all incidents the respondent had at work which have resulted in cept s31 and s34, which loaded onto S9 and S10, with the original
injuries. prediction being reversed. Perhaps good relationships within
workgroups can encourage CWs to get feedback from their super-
Factor Identifications for Job Stress and Emotional visors. S34 was removed from S10 due to the low reliability of
Stress „Reliability Analysis… the ␣ value obtained. The items, factor loadings, and Cronbach’s
␣ values of the 12 factors are summarized in Table 2.
The reliability levels of job stress and emotional stress were
shown by Cronbach’s ␣ values 共a commonly used indicator of
internal consistency; Pallant 2001兲 of 0.785 and 0.920, respec- Correlation between Stressors, Stresses, and Injury
tively. As both of their ␣ values were higher than 0.6, the two Incident „Pearson’s Correlation Analysis…
stress dimensions were considered reliable for further analyses
共Hair et al. 1998兲. Based on the factors generated from the factor analyses, Pearson’s
correlation analyses were done to explore the interrelationships
between the various stressors, the two types of stress 共job stress
Factor Identifications for Stressors „Factor Analysis and emotional stress兲, and CW injury incident 共refer to Table 3兲.
and Reliability Analysis… The squares of the two types of stress were also included in the
Based on the nature of CWs’ jobs and on an extensive stress analysis so as to explore their curvilinear relationships with injury
management literature review, stressors on CWs were categorized incidents of CWs. The results indicate that job stress was corre-
into five groups: task stressors, organizational stressors, personal lated significantly with work overload 共S1: 0.440兲, role ambiguity
stressors, interpersonal stressors, and physical stressors. These 共S2: 0.318兲, unfair reward and treatment 共S4: 0.329兲, interrole
scales with item numbers of 9, 8, 6, 11, and 7, respectively, were conflict 共S8: 0.428兲, poor workgroup relationship 共S9: ⫺0.284兲,
subjected to principal factor analysis with varimax rotation and unsafe environment 共S12: 0.286兲. Emotional stress correlated
共eigenvalue—1 cutoff兲 by spss version 11.0. With the sample size significantly with all 11 stressors 共S1: 0.684; S2: 0.542; S3:
of 142, the sample-to-item ratios of these five categories of stres- 0.424; S4: 0.614; S5: ⫺0.395; S7: ⫺0.287; S8: 0.637; S9:
sors were 16:1, 18:1, 24:1, 13:1, and 20:1, respectively, all higher ⫺0.379; S10: 0.342; S11: 0.378; and S12: 0.351兲. The CW injury
than the ratio of 10:1 suggested by Nunnally and Bernstein incident was positively correlated with job stress 共0.206兲, emo-
共1994兲. tional stress 共0.254兲, and the squared emotional stress 共0.161兲. To
Twelve factors were resulted from the factor analysis, includ- ensure that there is no multicollinearity effect involved between

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 Table 2. Scale Items, Factor Loadings, and Coefficient Alpha Reliabilities for the Stressors on CWs
Factor
Factors 共stressors兲 Nature Items Description loading Alpha
Task stressors
S1 Work overload + s1 My job uses up most of my time to relax. 0.898 0.892
+ s2 There is constant pressure to work all the time. 0.844
+ s3 I have a lot of responsibility in my job. 0.869
S2 Role ambiguity + s4 My job responsibilities are generally vague, unclear, and 0.880 0.907
inconsistent.
+ s5 My goals and objectives are intangible and not clearly spelled out. 0.894
+ s6 Explanations of what has to be done are often unclear. 0.855
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S3 Lack of autonomy + s7 I have to refer matters upwards when I can really adequately deal 0.798 0.607
with them myself.
+ s8 My supervisor often deals with me in an autocratic and overly 0.695
demanding manner.
+ s9 I was given insufficient authority to do my job properly 0.580

Organizational stressors
S4 Unfair reward and treatment + s10 I find the reward I get is relatively low when compared to the 0.893 0.909
external market.
+ s11 I often feel that the organization treats us unfairly. 0.918
+ s12 I find the reward I get does not balance with the effort I put in. 0.916
S5 Appropriate safety equipment + s13 Provision of safety equipment is sufficient. 0.898 0.963
+ s14 Safety equipment is in good condition. 0.931
+ s15 Safety equipment is regularly checked. 0.940
+ s16 Safety equipment is under regular maintenance. 0.940
+ s17 Safety equipment is regularly replaced. 0.900

Personal stressors
S6 Type A behavior + s18 I am an achievement oriented person who has the need to win. 0.756 0.444
+ s19 I enjoy competition and feel I always have to win. 0.839
+ s20 People sometimes say that I easily get temper. 0.568
S7 Optimism + s21 No despair with life and no life with despair. 0.900 0.913
+ s22 I expect the best from life. 0.926
+ s23 I see the bright side of things. 0.926

Interpersonal stressors
S8 Interrole conflict + s24 My devotion to work is usually in conflict with my devotion to 0.853 0.800
family.
+ s25 Family problems often concern me 共e.g., trouble with children and 0.819
marriage兲.
+ s26 My beliefs often conflict with those of the organization. 0.686
+ s27 Things I do are often accepted by one person but not another. 0.550
⫹ s28 My family/friends would like me to spend more time with them. 0.449
S9 Poor workgroup relationship ⫺ s29 I have a good relationship with my supervisor. 0.875 0.760
⫺ s30 My colleagues are trustworthy and friendly. 0.786
⫺ s31 I can get feedback from my supervisor on how well I’m doing. 0.750
S10 Lack of feedback + s32 I have no opportunity to find out how well I am doing on my job 0.868 0.832
共no prize, bonus, etc.兲.
+ s33 It is hard to receive information about my job from my supervisor. 0.866
− s34 My colleagues more often compete with each other than
cooperate with team spirit. 0.446

Physical stressors
S11 Poor physical environment + s35 Temperature is too extreme. 0.829 0.841
+ s36 Air quality is poor. 0.907
+ s37 It is noisy. 0.885
+ s38 It is full of hazards. 0.647

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 Table 2. 共Continued.兲
Factor
Factors 共stressors兲 Nature Items Description loading Alpha
S12 Unsafe environment ⫺ s39 Equipment is placed in unorganized way. 0.716 0.753
⫺ s40 Lighting is sufficient. 0.836
⫺ s41 Provision of indicator is sufficient. 0.884
Note: All items were measured on a seven-point scale ranging from “disagree strongly” to “agree strongly.” Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin= 0.823 for task stressors,
0.839 for organizational stressors, 0.748 for personal stressors, 0.703 for interpersonal stressors, and 0.733 for physical stressors. %Variance explained is
76.123% for task stressors, 86.335% for organizational stressors, 73.146% for personal stressors, 64.024% for interpersonal stressors, and 71.740% for
physical stressors. Indicated by italic lines, items with factor loadings under 0.60 or factors with Cronbach’s ␣ coefficients under 0.6 were deleted from
the above data analysis.
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the hypothetical variables, variance inflation factor 共VIF兲 is ob- conflict 共S8兲, but negatively associated with appropriate safety
tained to diagnose the collinearity through the SPSS. The VIF equipment 共S5兲, accounting for 62.5% of the variance. Last, to
figure higher than 10 represents a multicollinearity among the explore the linear and curvilinear interdependent relationships be-
variables 共Pallant 2001兲. The highest VIF value obtained in the tween the two types of stress and CW injury incident, Model 3
current study is 3.16, thus, there is no multicollinearity problem was developed with the two types of stress and the square of
among the variables. emotional stress as independent variables. The injury incident was
positively predicted only by emotional stress, explaining 6.5% of
Interdependent Relationships of Stressors, Stresses, the variance only. Perhaps, CW injury incident is also susceptible
and Injury Incident „Multiple Regression Analysis… to variables other than stresses, such as the resourcing of projects,
To conduct a more sophisticated exploration of the interdependent safety culture, and behaviors of CWs, factors that were beyond
relationships between the various stressors, the two types of the scope of the current study. Further study should be done to
stress, and the injury incident of CWs, multiple regression analy- more comprehensively investigate the variables leading to CW
sis was further applied in the study, based on the result of corre- injury incidents. However, this model does confirm that CW in-
lation analysis. The result of Pearson’s correlation indicated that jury incident is still significantly affected by emotional stress.
stressors S1, S2, S4, S8, S9, and S12 were significantly related to
job stress; that all of the stressors were significantly related to
emotional stress; and that the two types of stress as well as the Discussion
squares of emotional stress were significantly related to CW in-
jury incident. Therefore, the relevant variables were selected as
Based on the results of the three regression models developed, a
independent variables in the regression analyzes of job stress,
statistical stressors-stress-injury incident model was developed
emotional stress, and injury incident 共refer to Models 1–3 in Table
4兲. for CWs in Hong Kong and is illustrated in Fig. 2. Out of the two
Model 1 revealed that the job stress of CWs was positively types of stresses and the squared emotional stress, only emotional
associated with work overload 共S1兲, poor workgroup relationship stress predicted the injury incident of CWs. It was, simulta-
共S9兲, and interrole conflict 共S8兲, explaining 28.0% of the variance. neously, affected by work overload, interrole conflict, poor physi-
Emotional stress was the dependent variable in Model 2 and was cal environment, unfair reward and treatment, and appropriate
positively associated with poor physical environment 共S11兲, work safety equipments. Job stress was found to be predicted by poor
overload 共S1兲, unfair reward and treatment 共S4兲, and interrole workgroup relationship, work overload, and interrole conflict.

Table 3. Correlation between Stressors, Stresses, and Injury Incident of CWs

Job Emotional Job Emotional
Factors stress stress stress2 stress2
S1 Work overload 0.440a 0.684a — —
a
S2 Role ambiguity 0.318 0.542a — —
S3 Lack of autonomy 0.098 0.424a — —
a
S4 Unfair reward and treatment 0.329 0.614a — —
S5 Appropriate safety equipment ⫺0.109 ⫺0.395a — —
S7 Optimism ⫺0.148 ⫺0.287a — —
a
S8 Interrole conflict 0.428 0.637a — —
a
S9 Poor workgroup relationship 0.284 0.379a — —
S10 Lack of feedback 0.144 0.342a — —
S11 Poor physical environment ⫺0.044 0.378a — —
a
S12 Unsafe environment 0.286 0.351a — —
b
Injury Incident 0.206 0.254a 0.049 0.161b
Note: Correlation coefficient in bold: Interdependent relationships found in regression models 共see Table 4兲.
a
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level 共two-tailed兲.
b
Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level 共two-tailed兲.

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J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 2010.136:1093-1103.

 Table 4. Regression Models of Stressors, Stresses, and Injury Incident of CWs
Dependent variables Independent variables
Model Stresses ← Stressors Beta t Significance R R2 Significance 共ANOVA兲
1 Job stress 共Constant兲 ⫺6.312 ⫺1.582 0.116 0.529 0.280 0.000
S1 Work overload 1.318 3.178 0.002
S9 Poor workgroup relationship 1.557 2.109 0.037
S8 Interrole conflict 1.094 2.655 0.009
2 Emotional stress 共Constant兲 0.640 1.154 0.251 0.791 0.625 0.000
S11 Poor physical environment 0.168 2.395 0.018
S5 Appropriate safety equipment ⫺0.128 ⫺2.270 0.025
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S1 Work overload 0.374 5.244 0.000

S4 Unfair reward and treatment 0.224 3.157 0.002
S8 Interrole conflict 0.203 2.657 0.009

Injury incident ← Stress and stress2

3 Injury Incident 共Constant兲 0.005 0.014 0.989 0.254 0.065 0.003
Emotional stress 0.242 3.075 0.003

Emotional Stress and CW Injury Incident Although CWs normally work on a single project at a time,
construction projects are always implemented under tight and ur-
No curvilinear relationship was found between emotional stress
gent time frames. It is common for CWs to work overtime on-site.
and CW injury incident. Instead, the study indicated that CW
injury incident was predicted positively by emotional stress 共refer Excessive work demands lead to conflict in the performances of
to Table 4兲. Individual CWs who suffer from emotional stress individuals’ other roles 共Lu et al. 2008兲 共e.g., their role as a fa-
may exhibit poor safety behaviors 共i.e., focusing less on safety ther兲, in terms of the time, energy, and commitment they devote to
compliance, precautions, and procedures兲, leading to a higher in- other people 共e.g., working overtime means they have less time to
jury incident risk 共Murray et al. 1997兲. Thus, based on the result spend with their family, taking a rest after an exhausting work day
of current study that CW’s emotional stress predicts their injury means they may not get around to playing with their children,
incidents, to minimize their injury incidents, their emotional etc.兲. The interrole conflict that arises from CWs’ different roles
stress levels should be minimized. limited their time spending on releasing their emotions through
seeking social support from their family and friends, thus, result-
ing in emotional stress.
Various Stressors Predicting Emotional Stress Every working day, CWs are required to work in poor on-site
Work overload has long been recognized as the prime determinant physical environments with conditions such as extreme tempera-
of emotional stress 共Cordes and Dougherty 1993; Leung et al. ture 共outdoor jobs兲, poor air quality 共suspended dust兲, and exces-
2008b兲. The dynamic nature of the construction industry and the sive noise 共operation of plants or from piling兲 共Burkhart et al.
demanding nature of CWs’ jobs not only require huge amounts of 1992兲. Poor work environment can affect individuals’ emotional
physical vigor from CWs but also force them to work for unstable health, and, thus, results in anxiety and strain 共Leung et al. 2007,
and long hours or sometimes even to work on evenings, week- 2008a, 2009; Sutherland and Cooper 1993兲. In fact, working
ends, and holidays to finish a job or to respond to an emergency; under poor physical environment does not only lead to emotional
this is especially true for jobs that need special government ap- stress, but can also induce absenteeism and higher staff turnover
proval due to public nuisances they cause 共U.S. Department of rate 共Gmelch 1982兲.
Labor 2007兲. Such conditions can be frustrating and emotionally CWs, temporarily performing jobs on-site and having little
taxing, affecting CWs’ energy on the job. authority over construction projects, have only limited control

S9-Poor workgroup relationship

1.557
S1-Work overload 1.318
Job Stress
1.094
S8-Inter-role conflict 0.374
0.203 INJURY
0.168 0.173
Emotional Stress INCIDENT
S11-Poor physical environment
0.224
-0.128
S4-Unfair reward & treatment

S5-Appropriate safety equipments

Fig. 2. Integrated stressors-stress-injury incident statistical model for CWs

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J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 2010.136:1093-1103.

 To release emotional stress To reduce injury incident

Regular reviews on CWs’:

• working hours
• job allocation

Tackle the S1 & S8 stressors

• Landscaping on site
• Reward & bonus system for site tidiness INJURY
• Official & proactive checking of safety Emotional Stress INCIDENT
equipment conditions by foremen

Tackle the S5 & S11 stressors

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• Proper means for vertical communication

• Assessable & transparent reward and
bonus system for CWs’ performance

Tackle the S4 stressor

Fig. 3. Recommendations to reduce injury incident of CWs based on the study results

over the fairness of their rewards and treatment in terms of salary to work diligently, but also have to take good care of themselves
reasonability, working hours, and labor welfare 共Stattin and at work 共e.g., work steps by steps to prevent dangers兲. Hence, the
Jarvholm 2005; The Standard 2007兲. When individuals perceive interrole conflict that arises from CWs’ different roles may affect
an imbalance between the rewards they receive and the effort they their work performance and, thus, results in job stress.
put in, their motivation for performing the work decreases and it
is easier to generate emotional stress in practice 共Cordes and
Dougherty 1993兲. Recommendations
On the other hand, the provision of appropriate safety equip-
ments was found to have alleviating effect on the emotional stress
The findings of the current research provide an important insight
of CWs. In fact, it is the responsibility of employers to provide
into how to reduce CW injury incidents. Emotion health of the
sufficient safety equipments with regular maintenance. However,
the project budget on safety is always prioritized as the first item individuals is of key concern, as the emotional stress acts as the
to be cut under the competitive bidding 共Hinze 1988, Zou et al. key predictor of injury incident of CWs. This implies that CWs
2007兲. Working on a site with sufficient safety equipments do not injury incident can be reduced once their emotional stress is re-
only smoothen the work process of CWs, but also enhance the duced. To prevent CWs from suffering emotional stress, attention
confidence and the sense of belongingness of CWs toward their should be paid on the various stressors leading to it, including
company. CWs working under such a caring organizational cli- work overload, interrole conflict, poor physical environment, ap-
mate would have lesser chance to suffer from emotional exhaus- propriate safety equipments, and unfair reward and treatment.
tion 共MacDavitt et al. 2007兲. Hence, a number of recommendations can be made in relation to
different stressors predicting emotional stress, which further pre-
dicts injury incidents of CWs 共see Fig. 3兲.
Various Stressors Predicting Job Stress As suggested by the study result, to alleviate CWs’ emotional
Although the current study reveals no significant relationship be- stress, their work overload and interrole conflict level should be
tween the job stress and the CW injury incident in the industry, lowered. In fact, long working hours, which would further lead to
the impact of job stress on task performance and on sense of higher work-family conflict, have been proved to affect the psy-
belonging has been confirmed in regard to construction profes- chological well-being of CWs in Australia 共Lingard et al. 2006兲
sionals 共Leung et al. 2008a兲. In the study, job stress is defined as and the general employees 共Burke and Cooper 2008兲. Hence, the
the deviation between the expected and the actual ability of indi- employers are suggested to review the working hours and the job
vidual. Construction work tasks are well known to be exacting allocated to CWs. However, this does not necessarily mean re-
and tiring. Hence, CWs are often exhausted by their jobs and as a ducing the working hours of CWs. Employers can consider giving
result have less concern, energy, and time for social communica- an extra hour during lunch to keep CWs away from the sun and
tion with their colleagues. In fact, it is easy for an individual to extending one hour in the evening. It actually can also reduce the
perceive self-inability when he/she faces highly demanding ex- chances of CWs succumbing to heatstroke during the summer
pectations from his or her supervisor and foreman, and has little 共The Standard 2007兲.
social support from others. The current study confirmed that work The results reveal that poor physical environment and inappro-
overload and poor workgroup relationship both act as predictors priate safety equipments have influence on CWs’ emotion. Al-
of job stress. though construction work is notorious with its poor working
As construction projects are productivity-oriented, CWs are condition, employers should still put effort on enhancing the
often urged for high effectiveness and efficiency on physically physical environment and maintaining safety equipments in good
and technically demanding tasks that they are forced to take condition to CWs. As adverse working environment, such as foul
shortcut sometimes 共Mitropoulos et al. 2005兲. However, being a air, chaos area, and excessive noise, would produce negative im-
responsible man to their family members, CWs do not only need pact on emotion of human beings 共Lee et al. 2008; Rhud 2001兲,

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J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 2010.136:1093-1103.

 employers are suggested to green the site to enhance the air qual- ods have been available much longer in sociology and psychology
ity 共e.g., plant trees around the site, especially near the site office historically 共Kopala and Suzuki 1999兲, quantitative research
so that CWs, together with other construction professionals, can methods were adopted in the current study as the aim of the
enjoy it when they have site meetings or take rest兲, encourage current research is to explain and predict the relationships be-
CWs to allocate all miscellaneous tidily through a reward and tween various variables identified 共Cooper and Schindler 2006兲.
bonus system. In addition, instead of the existing practice of regu- To achieve an in-depth understanding of the relationships be-
lar checking taking out by safety officers/supervisors 共i.e., correc- tween these variables, it is recommended that qualitative research
tive acts兲, stakeholders are recommended to assign foremen to, methods, such as personal interviews and case studies, be used for
officially, check and keep record on the applications and condi- further research and act as a cross-validation of the foundation
tions of all safety equipments every time before they assign works result of the current study 共triangulation method兲.
to CWs 共i.e., proactive acts兲.
The next recommendation for minimizing CW injury incident
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is to deal with the unfair rewards and treatment CWs receive and Conclusions
thereby reduce their emotional stress. The large power divide be-
tween employers and employees is especially obvious in the con- Construction work has long been recognized as a stressful and
struction industry, as the social and industrial statuses of CWs are dangerous occupation wherein stress levels and injury incidents
often low. CWs are not able to express their needs, leading ulti- of CWs are always high. In view of this issue, the current study
mately to unfair rewards and treatment. In view of this fact, em- has aimed to identify the various stressors leading to CW stress as
ployers are encouraged to provide proper means of vertical well as to investigate the impacts of stress on CW injury incident.
communication with CWs, which can either be formal or informal The current study identified 11 sources of stress, including work
共e.g., Master Lu Ban Festival company dinner or regular work- overload, role ambiguity, lack of autonomy, unfair rewards and
group meetings兲. An assessable and transparent reward and treatment, appropriate safety equipment, optimism, interrole con-
bonus system is recommended in order to encourage quality task flict, poor workgroup relationship, lack of feedback, poor physical
and safety performance of CWs 共Nielsen 2007兲. In this way, CWs environment, and unsafe environment. The study also identified
can have a direct and concrete path for pursuing their rewards, two types of stress: job stress 共i.e., the difference between CWs’
while employers can simultaneously be benefited through the expected and actual abilities at various tasks兲 and emotional stress
higher productivity of CWs, resulting in a win-win situation. 共i.e., the emotional fatigue of individuals, resulting from chroni-
cally stressful conditions兲.
The findings revealed that CW injury incident is mainly af-
fected by emotional stress 共positive linear兲. Emotional stress can
Further Research
be predicted by work overload, interrole conflict, poor physical
environment, unfair reward and treatment, and appropriate safety
In the current study, three regression models were developed to
equipment. Job stress is predicted by poor workgroup relation-
explore the relationships between the three dependent variables
ship, work overload, and interrole conflict.
共i.e., job stress, emotional stress, and injury incident兲 and various
In order to minimize the CW injury incident by controlling the
sets of independent variables. R square values were obtained to
stressors that lead to emotional stress, the study indicated the
explain the percentage of variance in the three dependent vari-
importance of regularly reviewing the working hours and job al-
ables. The R square value of Model 3 is comparatively low. This
location of CWs and of ensuring the presence of proper physical
result reveals that, besides the two types of stress identified in the
working environments and proper safety equipment for CWs on-
present study, there may be other independent variables that pre-
sites. On the other hand, it is recommended that employers enable
dict CW injury incident 共e.g., the resourcing of projects, the safety
proper vertical communication channels with CWs and devise
training and culture of the organization, the individual safety be-
assessable and transparent bonus systems for CWs. Although CW
haviors of CWs, etc.兲. It is recommended that these factors can be
injury incident may be influenced by other factors not examined
investigated in the further studies to explain the CW injury inci-
here, the results of this study still clearly indicate the significant
dent.
impact of CW emotional stress on CW injury incident. It is rec-
This study adopted a self-reporting survey measurement
ommended that individual safety coping behaviors and organiza-
method. Therefore, the findings may have the potential risk of
tional strategies be further studied in order to understand the
common method variance and the validity of data may be ques-
impacts of stress on the actual safety behavior of CWs and to
tioned. It would be ideal to also obtain objective data of the vari-
identify the primary source factors for safety and stress manage-
ous variables 共e.g., number of working hours, physiological
ment in the industry. It is recommended that further qualitative
indicators of stress levels, injury incident records from the orga-
studies can be done to cross-validate the results in the current
nizations, etc.兲 for cross-validation of the subjective data in fur-
study.
ther study. However, it should be noted that the scales used in this
study were adopted from the extensive stress management and
construction safety literature. In addition, the respondents of this Acknowledgments
study were all CWs in Hong Kong who had direct experience
with on-site construction operation. The work described in this paper was fully supported by the Strat-
The current research, which was done using quantitative meth- egy Research Grant project 共Project No. CityU 7002451兲.
ods based on a relatively small sample size, provides a foundation
exploration of the relationships between various stressors,
stresses, and injury incidents of CWs in the construction industry. References
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