| Peer-Reviewed

Impact of Sustainable Construction on Environmental and Health Risk in Nigerian Construction Industry

Received: 21 January 2018     Accepted: 8 August 2018     Published: 5 September 2018
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Construction workers are exposed to a variety of health hazards every day. Health risks associated with a job are either inherent or created by the work. These construction health risks can be classified as chemical, physical, biological hazards. Construction stakeholders are obligated to anticipate, recognize, evaluate and control health hazards at the course of operation. Meanwhile, healthy workforce will give birth to healthy industry. This work aim at determine the key health and environmental risks brought by construction activities; its impact and mitigating mechanisms. Questionnaire was used to sample the opinion of the construction workers and professionals. The data collected was analysed using mean weighted value and presented in a table. Identified health risks in construction includes; lung diseases, haring loss, skin irritation and rashes, cumulative trauma disorders, cancer, lifetime disability and occasionally fatality. Meanwhile, effective site planning, layout and management identified under physical categorization was ranked first as a sustainable safety mechanism with a mean of 4.32 followed by usage of protective wears with a mean score of 4.01. Sound health that reduces sickness on-the-job thereby preventing absenteeism was highest mean score of 4.48 was identified as the major impact of sustainable health followed by cost saving with a mean score of 4.22. The work therefore recommended collaboration between health workers and the industry as well as health and safety training for all construction companies.

Published in Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11
Page(s) 99-105
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Construction Industry, Environment, Health, Safety, Sustainability

References
[1] Alintah-Abel, U., and Nnadi, E. O. E (2015). An assessment of foreign construction firms’participation on the cost of construction works in Nigeria. In: Ogunsemi, D. R, Awolede, O. A, & Oke, A. E (Eds). Proceedings of the 2nd Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors Research Conference Federal University of Technology, Akure (pp 2- 13).
[2] Grace. M and Cornelius M. (2014). Health and Safety Management on Construction Project Sites in Kenya. A Case Study of Construction Projects in Nairobi County, FIG Congress 2014.
[3] Israel. O. A. (2005). Sustainable Construction: A Web-Based Performance Assessment Tool. A dissertation thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Doctor of Engineering, at Loughborough University.
[4] Neale. R. (2013). “Ten factors to improve occupational safety and health in construction projects,” African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety, 23 (3), pp. 52-54. http://www.ttl.fi/africannewsletter.
[5] Kayumba. A. (2013). “Editorial: Construction work and occupational safety and health,” African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety, 23 (3), p. 51.http://www.ttl.fi/africannewsletter.
[6] Ugwu. O. O (2013) Risk Analysis And Management For Sustainable Infrastructure Delivery. A Paper At 2-Day National Workshop Organized by The Nigerian Institute Of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Enugu State Chapter Between 8th -9th August At Sunshine Guest House, Ebeano, Enugu.
[7] Laura Alfers (2014): Occupational Health & Safety for Informal, Workers in Ghana A case study of market and street traders in Accra, School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu‐Natal, Durban.
[8] Malik K., Ali N., Tayyab M., Nawaf A and Amrit S. (2015). Perceptions towards Sustainable Construction amongst Construction Contractors in State of Victoria, Australia. Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 3, No. 10, October 2015.
[9] Menoka. B., David. B and Daminam. F (2013). Stakeholder Engagement: Achieving sustainability I the construction Sector. Sustainability 6, 695-710 (ISSN 2074-1050) www.mdpi.com/journsl/sustanability.
[10] Shen LY, Tam VWY, Tam L, JI YB (2010) Project feasibility study: the key to successful implementation of sustainable and socially responsible construction management practice. J Clean Prod 18: 254-259.
[11] , D (2003) Sustainable construction: challenges and opportunities. In: Greenwood, D J (Ed.), 19th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2003, University of Brighton. Association of Researchers in Construction Management, Vol. 1, 289-97.
[12] Alhajeri, M. (2011) Health and safety in the construction industry: challenges and solutions in the UAE. Unpublished Thesis, Coventry: Coventry University.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Nnadi Ejiofor, Alintah-Abel Uchechi, Iheama Ndidi. (2018). Impact of Sustainable Construction on Environmental and Health Risk in Nigerian Construction Industry. Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, 3(4), 99-105. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Nnadi Ejiofor; Alintah-Abel Uchechi; Iheama Ndidi. Impact of Sustainable Construction on Environmental and Health Risk in Nigerian Construction Industry. J. Civ. Constr. Environ. Eng. 2018, 3(4), 99-105. doi: 10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Nnadi Ejiofor, Alintah-Abel Uchechi, Iheama Ndidi. Impact of Sustainable Construction on Environmental and Health Risk in Nigerian Construction Industry. J Civ Constr Environ Eng. 2018;3(4):99-105. doi: 10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11,
      author = {Nnadi Ejiofor and Alintah-Abel Uchechi and Iheama Ndidi},
      title = {Impact of Sustainable Construction on Environmental and Health Risk in Nigerian Construction Industry},
      journal = {Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering},
      volume = {3},
      number = {4},
      pages = {99-105},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jccee.20180304.11},
      abstract = {Construction workers are exposed to a variety of health hazards every day. Health risks associated with a job are either inherent or created by the work. These construction health risks can be classified as chemical, physical, biological hazards. Construction stakeholders are obligated to anticipate, recognize, evaluate and control health hazards at the course of operation. Meanwhile, healthy workforce will give birth to healthy industry. This work aim at determine the key health and environmental risks brought by construction activities; its impact and mitigating mechanisms. Questionnaire was used to sample the opinion of the construction workers and professionals. The data collected was analysed using mean weighted value and presented in a table. Identified health risks in construction includes; lung diseases, haring loss, skin irritation and rashes, cumulative trauma disorders, cancer, lifetime disability and occasionally fatality. Meanwhile, effective site planning, layout and management identified under physical categorization was ranked first as a sustainable safety mechanism with a mean of 4.32 followed by usage of protective wears with a mean score of 4.01. Sound health that reduces sickness on-the-job thereby preventing absenteeism was highest mean score of 4.48 was identified as the major impact of sustainable health followed by cost saving with a mean score of 4.22. The work therefore recommended collaboration between health workers and the industry as well as health and safety training for all construction companies.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Impact of Sustainable Construction on Environmental and Health Risk in Nigerian Construction Industry
    AU  - Nnadi Ejiofor
    AU  - Alintah-Abel Uchechi
    AU  - Iheama Ndidi
    Y1  - 2018/09/05
    PY  - 2018
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11
    T2  - Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
    JF  - Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
    JO  - Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
    SP  - 99
    EP  - 105
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2637-3890
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20180304.11
    AB  - Construction workers are exposed to a variety of health hazards every day. Health risks associated with a job are either inherent or created by the work. These construction health risks can be classified as chemical, physical, biological hazards. Construction stakeholders are obligated to anticipate, recognize, evaluate and control health hazards at the course of operation. Meanwhile, healthy workforce will give birth to healthy industry. This work aim at determine the key health and environmental risks brought by construction activities; its impact and mitigating mechanisms. Questionnaire was used to sample the opinion of the construction workers and professionals. The data collected was analysed using mean weighted value and presented in a table. Identified health risks in construction includes; lung diseases, haring loss, skin irritation and rashes, cumulative trauma disorders, cancer, lifetime disability and occasionally fatality. Meanwhile, effective site planning, layout and management identified under physical categorization was ranked first as a sustainable safety mechanism with a mean of 4.32 followed by usage of protective wears with a mean score of 4.01. Sound health that reduces sickness on-the-job thereby preventing absenteeism was highest mean score of 4.48 was identified as the major impact of sustainable health followed by cost saving with a mean score of 4.22. The work therefore recommended collaboration between health workers and the industry as well as health and safety training for all construction companies.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Quantity Surveying Department, Faculty of Environmental, Enugu State University of Science & Technology (ESUT), Enugu, Nigeria

  • Quantity Surveying Department, Faculty of Environmental, Enugu State University of Science & Technology (ESUT), Enugu, Nigeria

  • Building Department, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria

  • Sections