Investigating the Relationship between Occupational Stress and Work-Life Balance among Indian Construction Professionals

The construction industry has long been recognized as a stressful industry, due to its complexity and management of a large number of stakeholders. Occupational stress causes a negative impact on both the work and personal life of professionals. Previous studies have established that occupational stress of construction professionals is strongly associated with low productivity, high absenteeism, and poor work performance. However, there is a lack of scientific studies that provide linkages between occupational stressors and the dimensions of work-life balance. The present research aims to study the perceived level of occupational stress and assess its relationship with the dimensions of work-life balance among construction professionals. Within an established theoretical framework, eight hypotheses were formulated to investigate the above relationship. A cross-sectional survey-based approach was adopted to assess the level of occupational stress and work-life balance. The survey was administered among construction project managers, project engineers, and site engineers in the Indian context. With 285 valid responses, relative importance index and multiple regression analysis methods were utilised to analyse the collected data. The findings revealed major stressors that contribute to high levels of occupational stress under work-related and organisation-related stressor categories. The top five identified stressors included job nature demands coordination with multiple stakeholders, tight time frame for work, unstable working hours, bureaucracy, and quantitative work overload. With regards to the relationship between the categories of occupational stress and work-life balance, the results indicate that work-related stressors are significantly and positively related to work interference to personal life (WIPL) and personal life interference to work (PLIW) and negatively relate to work enhancement of personal life (WEPL) and personal life enhancement of work (PLEW). In the case of organisation-related stressors, both organisation policy and organisation position-related stressors significantly and positively influence WIPL however, no significant relationship was noticed with PLIW, WEPL, and PLEW. While the existing studies have provided evidence that work-life imbalance causes occupational stress, one of the major contributions of the present study is that it provides valid scientific evidence that occupational stress significantly influences work-life life balance negatively. The study’s findings with regards to unveiling the relationship between the categories of occupational stressors and dimensions of work-life balance would help organisations derive relevant policies for creating a supportive work environment. To this end, the paper advances our collective understanding of occupational stress and work-life balance with multiple dimensions and perspectives

Identifying and Addressing Critical Issues in the Indian Construction Industry: Perspectives of Large Building Construction Clients

The Indian construction industry faces increasing challenges amidst serious performance shortfalls. Confronting similar issues in past decades, other countries such as the UK, USA, and Singapore commissioned high-powered studies and set up industry development bodies to address their own priorities. Initiatives in other countries are briefly reviewed before outlining the launch of the “Construction Industry Improvement Initiative India” (Ci3 India) that aims to address our own challenges. This paper focuses on identifying and launching a platform to address the current and imminent critical issues in the Indian Construction Industry. Nineteen critical issues were identifed, verifed, and validated through four focus group sessions at two Regional Roundtables with 54 high calibre large building construction clients, academicians, and other invited experts. The identifed issues were consolidated to 10 Action Items. Seven Action Teams were then mobilized to work on the 10 Action Items. Having consolidated a base consensus of clients on the way forward, it was also proposed to develop a “Construction Clients’ Charter” that will set out basic principles, protocols, and targeted good practices by lead clients, who by voluntarily agreeing and implementing these together, could catalyse signifcant industry improvement

Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructure Development - Case Studies from Asia and Europe

Development of infrastructure projects with private engagement through PPP has become one of the commonly adopted procurement strategies in developed and developing countries. All over the world where PPP procurement has been used in one form or another, the way in which it is carried out has become an important issue. Yet, there is no standard method of PPP implementation as each country adapts the process as appropriate for its own culture, economy, political climate and legal system. It is therefore essential that all parties likely to be involved have a common understanding of the principles underlying PPP structures and an appreciation of the key issues from the standpoints of the private as well as the public sectors. PPP projects with substantial private investments involve participation of stakeholders with diverse perspectives, which can lead to different perceptions on the viability of the project. The introduction chapter covers the general issues of PPP implementation and presents an overview of the use of PPP in the delivery of public infrastructure and services across the world. Following, in five case studies PPP projects from Asia and Europe are presented and reveal differences in the respective approaches of each country. The case studies analyze project objectives, scope and site as well as legal, contractual and financial framework under which the projects were realized. Each case study closes with a chapter discussing the different approaches and summarizing lessons learned

Building Demolition Waste Management Practices – An Indian Case Study

Sustainable development has become an increasing concern throughout the world in the last two decades. Construction industry generates a huge quantity of waste, which is termed as construction and demolition (C&D) waste. C&D waste constitutes a major portion of the total solid waste generated in a society. Therefore, adoption of sustainable practices in C&D activities is vital for a society to move towards sustainable development. Moreover, demolition is a phase of construction that produces a large quantity of waste and hence requires explicit attention. During the past few decades, considerable amount of C&D waste is recycled in the developed countries. However, there are very few actively functioning C&D waste recycling facilities available in India. This signals the magnitude of the problem that needs to be addressed with respect to C&D waste management in India. In this paper, a case study research methodology is adopted to study the demolition waste management practices being adopted in Chennai city and the barriers that prevent the recycling of C&D debris have been discussed. The practices were found to be driven purely by economic incentives and unauthorized disposal of C&D waste is prevalent. There is a lack of awareness regarding the recycling possibilities among the stakeholders. Moreover, there are no records containing details on the quantity of C&D waste getting generated. Lack of appropriate policies, rules and strategies to address the C&D waste management have also been found to be some of the major barriers for the lack of C&D waste recycling initiatives in India.International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB

Risk perception analysis of BOT road project participants in India

Despite massive investment opportunities and the establishment of a framework for private sector participation in highway infrastructure development programmes in India, private investment (including foreign direct investment) in this sector is not up to the expected level. A high degree of risk exposure, disagreement on many risk issues among major stakeholders, and the absence of adequate government guarantees have been identified as some of the major reasons for this lukewarm response. This paper discusses the outcome of a risk perception analysis carried out to evaluate the risk criticality, risk management capability, risk allocation/sharing preference, and factors influencing risk acceptance of major stakeholders. A survey was conducted among senior project participants such as government officials, promoters, lenders and consultants of Indian BOT road projects. Eight types of risks have been identified as very critical in the Indian road sector under BOT set up with traffic revenue risk being the most critical. Though there is fair agreement among survey respondents with respect to the risk management capabilities of stakeholders, their preferences of allocations are divergent. The significant factors influencing the risk acceptance of each stakeholder are identified through regression analysis. The study reveals that the factors and their relative influence on the risk acceptance of stakeholders are considerably different.Highway Infrastructure, Bot Projects, Risk Perception, Risk Criticality, Risk Allocation, Risk Acceptance, Regression, Traffic Revenue Risk, India,

Modelling and assessment of critical risks in BOT road projects

Over the years, many private sector participation (PSP) models have been evolved for infrastructure procurement and the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model is one of the most common approaches used for the same. Private infrastructure projects under BOT arrangement have a complex risk profile and to a considerable extent, the success of any BOT project is influenced by the degree to which various project risks are managed. The major steps involved in risk management of a project are risk identification, risk assessment and the processes of prioritization and response to the risks. The conventional risk assessment approaches may not be effective in privatized infrastructure projects because of the fact that, they have very long project lifecycle with many country and sector specific risk factors. The assessment of complex risks is often a difficult task when past data on similar risks are not available. In this research, a risk probability and impact assessment framework based on fuzzy-fault tree and the Delphi method is proposed. The framework includes extensive scenario modelling of critical risks in projects and systematic processing of professional judgement (subjective knowledge) of experts and is developed and demonstrated in the context of critical risks in Indian BOT road projects. Detailed scenario modelling of most critical risks such as traffic revenue risk, delay in land acquisition, demand risk and delay in financial closure are also presented. The proposed risk assessment framework is generic and can be applied with appropriate modifications to suit any complex developmental project where past data is inadequate for risk assessment.BOT projects, risk modelling, risk assessment, fuzzy sets, possibility distribution,

Influence of institutional arrangements on on-site recycling and reuse practices of C&D waste

Construction and demolition activities generate a large quantity of C&D waste. It is estimated that almost 70% of the buildings that are expected to stand in India by 2030 are yet to be built. Hence, C&D waste generation is expected to grow larger in the coming years and managing it would play a vital role in the conservation of natural resources. However, a major portion of C&D waste in India is generally dumped in landfills or unauthorised places causing considerable ecological damage. In the recent years, there is a considerable amount of heterogeneity in the C&D waste being generated in India. The practice of on-site waste sorting has been reported to enhance resource reuse and recycling efficiency in the literature. Several barriers to on-site waste sorting such as lack of site space, lack of management effort, increased labour and cost, interference with other site activities, market for recyclables and negative stakeholders’ attitudes have also been reported. Anecdotal evidences suggest that appropriate regulations might lead to changes in the stakeholders’ practices. However, a good understanding of stakeholders’ decision making is essential to design the kind of incentives to facilitate the transition in the behaviour towards on-site waste recycling and reuse. As a part of this paper, redevelopment projects in two different cities having different institutional arrangements have been studied. In case A, the waste generator is mandated to dispose C&D waste generated in authorised places but a specific incentive to perform on-site sorting, recycling and reuse is absent. In case B, there is a strict regulation mandating the contractor to enhance resource reuse and recycling on-site. Interviews of top management and project managers were conducted to identify the management practices and to understand their rationale behind decision-making regarding managing waste on-site. Top management commitment was found to be crucial in bringing changes in the practices adopted by respective organisation as observed in both case studies. Refusal to give building approvals or commencement certificates by the Government authorities without an elaborate waste management plan for enhanced reuse and recycling has also been found to be effective in bringing about a change towards on-site waste sorting and recycling. Several other insights gathered regarding on-site reuse practices and implications for designing appropriate incentives have been discussed

Multi-Parametric Delineation Approach for Homogeneous Sectioning of Asphalt Pavements

Maintenance of homogeneous road sections is one of the approaches to economizing the overall management of pavement systems. The objective of this study was to develop a multi-parameter-based delineation approach to segmenting the pavements into subsections in a way that considers multiple pavement characteristics. Deflection bowl parameters, pavement functional performance, surface layer modulus, and traffic were analyzed to develop a multi-parametric delineation index (MPDI), which was used in C-charts-based segmentation to obtain homogeneous sections. Importantly, the segmentation processes were automated using a deep neural network designed for rational implementation by practitioners. The devised approach was found to be efficient in segmenting the pavements, selecting the sections that are in direst need of maintenance, and necessitating prompt response from the agencies