Abstract
The construction industry is physical in nature and the incidence of work related musculoskeletal disorders is increasing, especially in a developing country such as Nigeria. Ergonomic hazards reduce the effectiveness of thousands of construction workers in the Nigerian construction industry. Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) effectively marginalise construction productivity, which is a challenge in general in the industry. Furthermore, the industry is also affected by a shortage of skilled craftsmen. Then, observations and anecdotal evidence indicate that Nigerian construction workers have not adopted ergonomics principles. The research examines the level of adoption of ergonomics principles in preventing WMSDs on construction sites in Nigeria. It assesses the practice of ergonomics based on stretching and exercises, use of personal protective equipment, working methods, and material storage and movement. Site observations were used to assess ergonomic practices among one hundred and twenty workers on construction sites in Nigeria.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Smallwood, J.J., Haupt, T.C.: Construction ergonomics; perspectives of female and male production workers. In: 25th Association of Researchers in Construction Management Conference, pp. 1263–1271 (2009)
Olutuase, S.O.: A study of safety management in the Nigerian Construction Industry. IOSR J. Bus. Manag. 16(3), 1–10 (2014)
Ajayi, O., Thwala, W.: Developing an integrated design model for construction ergonomics in Nigeria Construction Industry. Afr. J. Appl. Res. 1(1), 478–495 (2015)
Sass, C., Smallwood, J.: The role of ergonomics in green building. In: Proceedings of the 19th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Melbourne, 9–14 August 2015
Abdul-Tharim, H., Jaffar, N., Lop, N.S., Mohd-Kamar, I.F.: Ergonomic risk controls in construction industry—a literature review. Procedia Eng. 20, 80–88 (2011)
National Safety Council: National Safety Council; USA, Itasca, Illinois: 2013. Injury Facts, 2013 edn. (2013)
Valenti, A., Omaira, M., Venanzi, D., Fantini, L., Iavicoli, S.: Occupational health and safety in Egypt: an overview. Afr. Newsl. Occup. Health Saf. 23(1), 4–6 (2010)
Mahmoudi, S., Ghasemi, F., Mohammadfam, I., Soleimani, E.: Framework for continuous assessment and improvement of occupational health and safety issues in construction companies. Saf. Health Work 5, 125–130 (2014)
Muiruri, G., Mulinge, C.: Health and safety management on construction projects sites in Kenya. A case study of construction projects in Nairobi County. In: FIG Congress 2014 Engaging the Challenges – Enhancing the Relevance Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 16–21 June (2014)
Diugwu, I.A., Baba, D.L., Egila, A.E.: Effective regulation and level of awareness: an exposé of the Nigeria’s construction industry. Open J. Saf. Sci. Technol. 2, 140–146 (2012)
Umeokafor, N., Isaac, D., Jones, K., Umeadi, K.: Enforcement of occupational safety and health regulations in Nigeria: an exploration. Eur. Sci. J. 3, 93–104 (2014)
Ray, S.J., Teizer, J.: Real-time construction worker posture analysis for ergonomics training. Adv. Eng. Inform. 26, 439–455 (2012)
Smallwood, J., Ajayi, O.: The impact of training on construction ergonomics knowledge and awareness. Ergon. SA 21(1), 23–38 (2009)
Smallwood, J.J.: The Influence of clients on contractor health and safety (H&S). In: Association of Researchers in Construction Management Conference, vol. 2, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 1–3 September 2004
Hsiao, H., Fosbroke, D.: Determining research focus for reducing overexertion injuries in the construction industry. In: 13th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Tampere, Finland, vol. 6 (1997)
Buckley, B.: Big buzz on ergonomics (2009). http://southeast.construction.com/features/archive/2009/0903_Feature4.asp
Albers, J.T., Estill, C.F.: Ergonomics for construction workers. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Ergonomics for Construction Workers DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2007–122 (2007)
AlSwaity, A., Enshassi, A.: Construction ergonomics related to safety. In: 4th International Engineering Conference – Towards Engineering of 21st Century (2012). research.iugaza.edu.ps/files/2147.PD
Obiegu, M.E.: Infusion of quality, health and safety requirement into building production. In: Council of Builders of Nigeria Congress. Nigerian Building Industry and the National Economy, pp. 83–97 (2015)
Agwu, M.O., Olele, H.E.: Fatalities in the Nigerian construction industry: a case of poor safety culture. Brit. J. Econ. Manag. Trade 3(4), 431–454 (2014)
Marras, W.S., Karwowski, W.: Interventions, Controls, and Applications in Occupational Ergonomics. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2006)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
AbdulHafeez, I., Smallwood, J. (2018). Adoption of Construction Ergonomic Interventions on Building Construction Sites in Nigeria. In: Goonetilleke, R., Karwowski, W. (eds) Advances in Physical Ergonomics and Human Factors. AHFE 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 602. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60825-9_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60825-9_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60824-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60825-9
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)