Key Stressors Leading to Construction Professionals' Stress in the Gaza Strip, Palestine

The aim of this paper is to investigate the key stressors that lead to stress among professionals on construction projects. A total of 320 questionnaires were randomly distributed to construction professionals in the Gaza Strip, and 183 were returned, yielding a 51% response rate. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to explore the interrelationships among stressor attributes in four stressor groups (task, personal, physical, and organisational). The results of this study indicated that personality and home-work conflicts are the most prevailing personal stressors linked to stress experienced by Gaza Strip construction professionals. This type of stress was induced because construction professionals did not give attention to their personal lives in addition to their jobs. Task stressors resulted from two types of work overload: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative overload came from working for long hours with too much work, whereas qualitative overload resulted from a wide range of responsibilities. Physical stressors were not recognised by Gaza Strip construction professionals as an important source of stress. With regard to organisational stressors, it was found that the policies, treatment, and rewards were inadequate. A politicised environment and lack of feedback from the supervisor were responsible for organisational structure stressors. This study will add value to the existing body of knowledge concerning Palestinian professionals' perspectives of stressors in the construction industry. Professionals can take key stressors into consideration to manage and minimise stress on construction projects. Therefore, training sessions on managing and

Prevention of Work Related Musculoskeletal Injuries in Construction Trades in Palestine

Workers in construction trades experience high rates of injuries and illnesses, including work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Musculoskeletal disorders continue to be a major source of disability and lost work time. Understanding their causes that are work-related remains the key to primary prevention. The objective of this paper is to identify the nature of work-related disorders that are suffered by workers and their risk factors. Several construction projects in the Gaza Strip were investigated using a representative sample of 135 persons from the construction workforce. The survey instrument assessed the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms and identified job factors that may contribute to those symptoms in construction field. In addition several interviews were held, and pre-site visit forms were filled to support the proposed study. The findings showed that back, shoulders, wrists/hands, and knees symptoms are the most prevalent problems among the workers. Awkward postures and working in the same position for long periods were identified as the leading causes of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. The findings of this study can be used to formulate appropriate intervention strategies for the reduction of musculoskeletal symptoms for construction workers in the building trades. Strategies for preventing musculoskeletal disorders should be carried out to reduce the burden of high physical workload and repetitive work in construction projects and especially in masonry industry

Investigating common causes of burnout in the construction industry

Unhealthy stress has a significant impact on individuals' psychological and physiological wellness, and job performance, which directly influence the success of construction projects. Burnout has a negative impact on mental and physical health of construction professionals, which decreases their job satisfaction and job productivity. The study identifies common causes of burnout as perceived by professionals working in construction projects in the Gaza Strip. Three hundred twenty questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected construction professionals in the Gaza Strip and 183 were returned yielding 51% response rate. Relative importance index and exploratory factor analysis were employed in this study. The factor analysis resulted in three factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal achievement. The results indicated that the emotional exhaustion symptoms were the highest

Key Stressors Leading to Construction Professionals' Stress in the Gaza Strip, Palestine

The aim of this paper is to investigate the key stressors that lead to stress among professionals on construction projects. A total of 320 questionnaires were randomly distributed to construction professionals in the Gaza Strip, and 183 were returned, yielding a 51% response rate. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to explore the interrelationships among stressor attributes in four stressor groups (task, personal, physical, and organisational). The results of this study indicated that personality and home-work conflicts are the most prevailing personal stressors linked to stress experienced by Gaza Strip construction professionals. This type of stress was induced because construction professionals did not give attention to their personal lives in addition to their jobs. Task stressors resulted from two types of work overload: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative overload came from working for long hours with too much work, whereas qualitative overload resulted from a wide range of responsibilities. Physical stressors were not recognised by Gaza Strip construction professionals as an important source of stress. With regard to organisational stressors, it was found that the policies, treatment, and rewards were inadequate. A politicised environment and lack of feedback from the supervisor were responsible for organisational structure stressors. This study will add value to the existing body of knowledge concerning Palestinian professionals' perspectives of stressors in the construction industry. Professionals can take key stressors into consideration to manage and minimise stress on construction projects. Therefore, training sessions on managing and coping with stress is recommended for construction professionals

A REVIEW ON CORONA VIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19)

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus that may cause illness in animals or humans. SARS-CoV-2 was first identified in late December 2019, in Wuhan, China. The coronavirus infected patients ‘who suffering from Immundeficient or chronic inflammation are at higher risk of getting a severe infection from COVID-19. The symptoms such as proinflammatory and hypercoagulable, non-cardiac pneumonia, multi-organ failure, and ARDS resulting in sudden death have been seen in those patients. Supportive treatment is still the main strategy in treating this disease since there is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the infection resulting from coronavirus. However, more investigations are needed to illustrate their biochemical and hematological disorders, complications, prevention, and treatments. In conclusion, this review provides the most recent information on the current global pandemic coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which may help the health workers and researchers to pursue their studies

Coping behaviors to deal with stress and stressor consequences among construction professionals: A case study at the Gaza Strip, Palestine

Purpose Construction experts face several types of stresses at construction sites. The purpose of this study is to recognize and investigate dominant coping behaviors to overcome stress among construction professionals at the Gaza Strip. Design/methodology/approach For the purpose of this paper, a survey which used self-administrative questionnaires was conducted. A total of 320 questionnaires were distributed randomly to construction professionals working at the Gaza Strip. From the total questionnaires that were distributed, 183 were returned. This shows a 51 per cent response rate. Relative importance index and principal component analysis were applied to examine the responses. This study explored two central coping behaviors, namely, problem-focused and emotion-focused behaviors. Findings In relation to the problem-focused behaviors, a factor analysis revealed three underlying factors, namely

Upper-Basic Schoolteachers’ Beliefs about Their Students’ Awareness of Digital Citizenship

Students’ awareness of digital citizenship (DC) is a growing topic in educational technology. Teachers’ beliefs regarding this awareness are a primary factor to influence this awareness. The current research aimed to verify the level of upper-basic schoolteachers’ beliefs about their students’ awareness of DC. It also intended to verify whether this level is significantly different due to teachers’ gender, discipline, academic qualification, and experience. The present research followed random sampling and the sample for the present research consisted of 153 teachers. The teachers were upper-basic schoolteachers that teach Arabic language, mathematics, and technology. The data were collected using a DC questionnaire, while the analysis was done using statistical exams, specifically one-sample t-test, independent-sample t-test, and ANOVA. The research results indicated that the mean score of schoolteachers’ beliefs about their students’ awareness of Cyberbullying, Digital Privacy, and Digital Netiquette was significantly higher than the good DC beliefs score, while the mean score of schoolteachers’ beliefs about their students’ awareness of Digital Identity and Digital Footprint was significantly higher than the normal DC beliefs score. In addition, the results indicated no significant differences in teachers’ beliefs about the awareness of DC’s components due to gender, academic qualification, or years of experience. Moreover, there are no significant differences in teachers’ beliefs about students’ DC’s awareness due to the discipline, except for Digital Privacy