Measures to Regain Productivity After Construction Accidents

When construction accidents occur, besides the direct impact on the victims, there may be collateral effects on the remaining/uninjured workers. In the context of the aftermath of accidents on construction sites, this research investigates the extent to which the uninjured workers’ productivity is affected; and uncovers the more effective measures to be instituted on workers after witnessing construction accidents so as to prevent further loss of their productivity. A questionnaire survey was conducted on randomly selected construction professionals who had been supervising workers when and after accidents took place on construction sites in Singapore. The data collected were analyzed using the SPSS software. The first finding is that workers’ productivity and wellbeing fall significantly after witnessing construction accidents. They have lower morale, are distressed by the accident and stressed by having to take on additional work or accelerate their work after construction resumes on site. This research found that while a worker’s wellbeing deteriorates significantly in the aftermath of a construction accident, there are upsides to construction accidents too. Workers are observed to adopt better work attitude and have higher sense of safety after construction accidents. Significant positive correlation is found between workers’ wellbeing and their productivity. The second finding is that the workers turn to fellow workers and supervisors for support post accidents. Relieving them from duties are also effective measures to alleviate the psychological effects of the accidents. The study found that to minimize the negative effects of construction accidents, contractors should improve site safety swiftly, offer employee assistance program, relieve workers from regular duties temporarily and refrain from overloading them after work is allowed to resume. It is recommended that supervisors avail themselves to the workers, for example, through mass psychological debriefing or one-to-one counselling.