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Human vibration exposure from hand-operated equipment emissions can lead to irreparable and debilitating hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). While work-place health and well-being (H&WB) policies, strategies and procedures have been extensively researched and documented, little has been done to develop a specific strategic framework tailored to the management of hand-arm vibration (HAV). This study fills that gap.

A mixed philosophical approach of interpretivism and critical realism is adopted within a case study of a utilities contractor. Within this overarching epistemological design, action research approach is implemented via a three-stage investigation, namely, relevant company H&WB documents and procedures were examined, leading to the formulation of semi-structured interview questioning of the H&WB team. Their responses informed the next line of questions, delivered to middle-management responsible for overseeing H&S.

The findings are instructive in revealing that while substantial documentation management (augmented with protocols and checks) was in place, the system fell short of implementation within the workforce and thus failed to preserve worker H&WB. The investigation generated recommendations for shoring up H&WB deficiencies observed and developed a theoretical model to represent these. Though these recommendations were developed in response to a specific case, they form the core of a HAV operational H&WB strategy framework with applicability over a broader context.

This research provides unique insight into contemporary industry practices employed to manage HAV in the workplace and represents an invaluable opportunity to learn from prevailing practices and rectify deficiencies observed.

This paper aims to investigate the impact that building design has upon the quality of life for residents of a care home who have dementia. To present a balanced perspective, carers within the care home also participate in the research.

A case study methodological approach was adopted using one care home, ten residents and five staff as a sample frame. During interviews conducted, participants were asked semi-structured questions on how building design features impact upon the quality of life of residents. Questions posed focussed upon key design principles that emerged from a detailed review of extant literature.

Building design for people with dementia must consider a complex array of features to provide a safe and habitable living space for residents and family members who visit. This living space must also be suitably utilitarian and provide a workable environment for staff. Hence, an appropriate balance between these two competing requirements must be attained, and often a tailor-made solution is required that fits the individual’s level of dementia. Three prominent areas that study participants expressed a desire for were a safe environment; support for wayfinding, orientation and navigation; and access to nature and the outdoors.

The work reports upon the rarely discussed issue of building design for people with dementia and could be used by policymakers and construction firms to enhance their knowledge capabilities in this area. The research concludes with direction for future research which should seek to provide more evidence-based research vis-a-vis perception enquiry and extend this seminal work to a larger sample of care homes or people with dementia living at home.

Work-related low back disorders (LBDs) are prevalent among rebar workers although their causes remain uncertain. The purpose of this study is to examine the self-reported discomfort and spinal biomechanics (muscle activity and spinal kinematics) experienced by rebar workers.

In all, 20 healthy male participants performed simulated repetitive rebar lifting tasks with three different lifting weights, using either a stoop (n = 10) or a squat (n = 10) lifting posture, until subjective fatigue was reached. During these tasks, trunk muscle activity and spinal kinematics were recorded using surface electromyography and motion sensors, respectively.

A mixed-model, repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that an increase in lifting weight significantly increased lower back muscle activity at L3 level but decreased fatigue and time to fatigue (endurance time) (p < 0.05). Lifting postures had no significant effect on spinal biomechanics (p < 0.05). Test results revealed that lifting different weights causes disproportional loading upon muscles, which shortens the time to reach working endurance and increases the risk of developing LBDs among rebar workers.

Future research is required to: broaden the research scope to include other trades; investigate the effects of using assistive lifting devices to reduce manual handling risks posed; and develop automated human condition-based solutions to monitor trunk muscle activity and spinal kinematics.

This study fulfils an identified need to study laboratory-based simulated task conducted to investigate the risk of developing LBDs among rebar workers primarily caused by repetitive rebar lifting.

The purpose of this paper is to present an understanding of the potential impact of Brexit upon the UK construction industry. Specifically, the work analyses the construction industry’s reliance upon European Union (EU) skilled labour and seeks to determine the potential impact that Brexit poses upon EU skilled labour entering the sector.

A perceptual questionnaire survey was used to elicit responses from construction professionals using the two techniques of opportunity and snowballing non-probability sampling. Summary statistical analysis of Boolean and Likert item scale data accrued was employed to elucidate upon respondents’ perceptions.

The majority of survey participants either “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that the UK construction industry relies upon EU skilled labour and that a career in the sector would not be attractive for foreign skilled labour post-Brexit. Future research proposed includes: predicting future trends in labour supply and demand and deriving new policies to address skills shortage imbalances that may be created by Brexit.

Original insight into an historic and unprecedented moment for the UK construction industry is presented. The work also provides pragmatic recommendations to policy makers and Higher Education Institutes to prevent the risk of Brexit further exacerbating skilled labour shortages within the industry.

A comprehensive literature review of performance management within the Dutch steel processing industry is presented. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the motives for companies to become excellent performers in their field of expertise. These internal and external motives (refined by quantitative analysis of bibliographic data) sought to reveal the common factors that impact company performance.

Inductive reasoning was adopted using an interpretivist philosophical stance to generate new theoretical insight. A mixed-methods analysis of pertinent extant literature afforded greater synthesis of the research problem domain and generated more valid and reliable findings. The software visualisation of similarities viewer was used to conduct a qualitative bibliographic analysis of extant literature to yield greater clarification on the phenomena under investigation.

Four thematic groups of past research endeavours emerged from the analysis and were assigned appropriate nomenclature, namely: industry internal motives; industry external motives; excellent performer and incremental working method. To further expand upon the continuous improvement process (CIP – embodied within performance management), the paper describes the virtuous cycle of improvement, which consists of the consecutive steps of “planning”, “doing”, “checking” and ultimately of “acting” accordingly to the previous steps. It can be concluded that a high-performing company acts according to its mission, plans in line with the vision do as defined in the strategy and checks by reflection.

This unique study provides invaluable insight into the performance management of Dutch steel processing companies. Although the research context was narrowly defined, the findings presented are equally applicable to clients, contractors and sub-contractors active in other sectors of the construction industry. The research concludes by prescribing factors of mitigation strategies to support chief executive officers to focus on the optimum distribution of their scarce resources.

Excessive exposure to HAV can lead to hand–arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) which is a major health and well-being issue that can irreparably damage the neurological, vascular and muscular skeletal system. This paper reports upon field research analysis of the hand–arm vibration (HAV) exposure levels of utility workers in the UK construction sector when operating hand-held vibrating power tools.

An empirical epistemological lens was adopted to analyse primary quantitative data on the management of hand-held tool trigger times (seconds) collected from field studies. To augment the analysis further, an interpretivist perspective was undertaken to qualitatively analyse interviews held with the participating company's senior management team after field study results. This approach sought to provide further depth and perspective on the emergent numerical findings.

The findings reveal that none of the operatives were exposed above the exposure limit value (ELV) and that 91.07% resided under the exposure action value (EAV). However, the Burr four parameter probability model (which satisfied the Anderson–Darling, Kolmogorov–Smirnov and chi-squared goodness of fit tests at α 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 levels of significance) illustrated that given the current data distribution pattern, there was a 3% likelihood that the ELV will be exceeded. Model parameters could be used to: forecast the future probability of HAV exposure levels on other utility contracts and provide benchmark indicators to alert senior management to pending breaches of the ELV.

HAV field trials are rarely conducted within the UK utilities sector, and the research presented is the first to develop probability models to predict the likelihood of operatives exceeding the ELV based upon field data. Findings presented could go some way to preserving the health and well-being of workers by ensuing that adequate control measures implemented (e.g. procuring low vibrating tools) mitigate the risk posed.

Advancements in digital technologies have provided significant opportunities to improve the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Owner-operated (AECO) sector’s performance through superior data management, streamlined processes and cooperative working practices. However, whilst academic literature widely espouses these benefits during the design and construction phases of development, research suggests that the operational phase of a building’s lifecycle has yet to fully realise performance improvements available through the application of digital modelling technology. The purpose of this paper is to synthesise extant digital modelling, asset management and emergent digital asset management literature, to report upon the beneficial implications of digitalised asset management and identify obstacles hampering its adoption in industry.

A componential synthesis of future work reported upon in extant literature is organised into thematic categories that indicate potential research avenues and a trajectory for digital asset management research and practice.

Themes identified include: imprecise Building Information Modelling definitions; isolated software development; data interoperability; intellectual property and virtual property rights; and skills and training requirements. Notably, increased environmental performance also arose as a theme requiring further research but received considerably less academic coverage than the other obstacles identified.

The work presents a comprehensive review of digital technologies utilised within the AECO sector and as such provides utility to researchers, policy makers and practitioners to enhance their knowledge capabilities.

This paper presents a conceptual model of effective subcontractor development practices to guide general contractors' development of a network of high-performing subcontractors (SCs) for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects.

Drawing from supplier development theories and practices in the manufacturing sector, a mixed interpretivist and empirical methodology is adopted to examine the body of knowledge within literature for conceptual model development. A self-reporting survey questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale is used to assess 30 construction professionals' perceptions of the effectiveness of 37 SC development practices classified into five categories. Descriptive statistics, weighted means, and t-tests are used for data analysis.

SC prequalification, commitment, incentives, evaluation and feedback practices can be effective in generating high-performing SCs. Practices that require more direct involvement and linkages between GC and SC are perceived to be less effective.

Theoretical contributions include a framework to foster future research to advance knowledge and understanding to enhance the adoption of SC development practices in the construction sector.

Implementation of ranked SC development practices can equip GCs with a network of high-performing SCs for improved competitive advantage and revenues.

The proposed conceptual model expands discussions on the modification of supplier development theories and practices currently utilized in the manufacturing sector toward their application in the construction sector. This research differs from previous research, which primarily focused on the manufacturing sector.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the challenges in improving women's energy access, rights and equitable sustainable development from a Ghanaian perspective.

The research utilizes a mixed method. A qualitative in-depth exploratory design was chosen to understand how gender is mainstreamed within Ghana's energy sector. This included semi-structured interviews with key managers, experience policy experts and focus groups. The semi-structured interviews were analyzed using thematic content analysis (TCA).

The study reveals that the National Energy Policy of 2010, as the main energy policy regulating the energy sector in Ghana, does make provision for gender equality, safety especially women, in line with Ghana's sustainable development goals. The energy policy aims to empower women and create gender parity in the sector. Nevertheless, the study also found major challenges to gender mainstreaming in the energy sector, including poor analysis in formulating energy policies, inadequate financial resources, and poor monitoring and evaluation.

The paper exposes gender equity challenges associated with the energy sector in Ghana. It also offers a new policy angle which connects gender mainstreaming to sustainable development. The research describes how women are included in developing energy policies and in addressing gender challenges in the energy sector.

This paper aims to assess the behavioural intention of construction organisations to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the delivery of construction projects. Using the unified theory of technology adoption and use of technology (UTAUT) model, the study strives to improve project delivery by adopting beneficial digital technologies.

The study adopted a postpositivism philosophical stance through a quantitative research approach using a structured questionnaire administered to construction organisations in South Africa. Primary data gathered was analysed using frequency, percentage, mean item score, Mann–Whitney U-test and confirmatory factor analysis, where the latter sought to deductively confirm the variables within the UTAUT model.

Construction organisations were found to rarely use UAVs in the country and furthermore, most of the participating organisations are unsure about using UAVs for their project delivery. Factors impacting on an organisation’s intention to use UAVs were identified as social influence, performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions. However, factors surrounding resistance to using and perceived risk cannot be overlooked as they also proved to be significant (at p = 0.05) to the behavioural intention of organisations to use UAVs.

Practical guidance for industry practitioners is offered in terms of insight into the key factors that must be considered for the effective utilisation of UAVs and the realisation of concomitant benefits.

This study bridges the knowledge gap in extant literature by exploring the practitioner’s behavioural intention to use UAVs. As an aside, an emergent theoretical backdrop for future works on UAVs is provided (particularly in developing countries where such a study has not been previously explored).