Prominence of work versus other stressors among construction industry workers

Considerable research has been dedicated to identifying the presence and impact of workplace psychosocial risk factors in the construction industry; however, there is limited qualitative evidence that contextualizes workplace stressors in relation to broader life stress.

To qualitatively explore the perceived prominence of work stressors in relation to other stressors in construction industry workers' lives.

Workers from an Australian construction company participated in a nation-wide survey. An open-ended question was asked regarding the greatest source of stress workers face within or outside of the workplace. An inductive, manifest content analysis was conducted using a qualitative descriptive approach to meaningfully categorize workers' responses.

Responses from 608 workers were analysed. Stressors in the work-related category were most commonly reported as workers' most significant source of stress (45%), followed by combined work and home/personal stressors (35%), home or personal stressors (14%) and no stressors (6%). Collectively, work was implicated in 80% of workers' most prominent source of stress. The most prominent specific stressor was work overload (high job demands, pressure and long hours often reported together; 23%), followed by poor work-life balance (18%).

Work-related stressors are not only highly prevalent among construction industry workers, but are much more commonly described as their most prominent source of stress compared to home or personal factors. The centrality of work-related stressors within workers' lives more broadly, including those that straddle the work-home divide (particularly poor work-life balance), suggests the need for holistic approaches to optimally address mental health.