TY - JOUR
T1 - Heat stress intervention research in construction
T2 - Gaps and recommendations
AU - Yang, Yang
AU - Chan, Albert Ping Chuen
N1 - Funding Information:
The work described in this paper was supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (RGC Project No. PolyU5107/11E). The research team is indebted to the technical support from technicians of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In particular, the participation of volunteers in this study is gratefully acknowledged. This paper forms part of the research project titled ?Anti-heat stress clothing for construction workers in hot and humid weather?, from which other deliverables will be produced with different objectives/scopes but sharing common background and methodology. The authors also wish to acknowledge the contributions of other team members including Prof Francis Wong, Dr Michael Yam, Dr Daniel Chan, Dr Edmond Lam, Prof Del Wong, Prof Li Yi, Dr YP Guo, Dr WF Song, Dr W Yi, Dr Esther Cheung, and Prof Joanne Chung. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Developing heat stress interventions for construction workers has received mounting concerns in recent years. However, limited efforts have been exerted to elaborate the rationale, methodology, and practicality of heat stress intervention in the construction industry. This study aims to review previous heat stress intervention research in construction, to identify the major research gaps in methodological issues, and to offer detailed recommendations for future studies. A total of 35 peer-reviewed journal papers have been identified to develop administrative, environmental or personal engineering interventions to safeguard construction workers. It was found that methodological limitations, such as arbitrary sampling methods and unreliable instruments, could be the major obstacle in undertaking heat stress intervention research. To bridge the identified research gaps, this study then refined a research framework for conducting heat stress intervention studies in the construction industry. The proposed research strategy provides researchers and practitioners with fresh insights into expanding multidisciplinary research areas and solving practical problems in the management of heat stress. The proposed research framework may foster the development of heat stress intervention research in construction, which further aids researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in formulating proper intervention strategies.
AB - Developing heat stress interventions for construction workers has received mounting concerns in recent years. However, limited efforts have been exerted to elaborate the rationale, methodology, and practicality of heat stress intervention in the construction industry. This study aims to review previous heat stress intervention research in construction, to identify the major research gaps in methodological issues, and to offer detailed recommendations for future studies. A total of 35 peer-reviewed journal papers have been identified to develop administrative, environmental or personal engineering interventions to safeguard construction workers. It was found that methodological limitations, such as arbitrary sampling methods and unreliable instruments, could be the major obstacle in undertaking heat stress intervention research. To bridge the identified research gaps, this study then refined a research framework for conducting heat stress intervention studies in the construction industry. The proposed research strategy provides researchers and practitioners with fresh insights into expanding multidisciplinary research areas and solving practical problems in the management of heat stress. The proposed research framework may foster the development of heat stress intervention research in construction, which further aids researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in formulating proper intervention strategies.
KW - 5-D model
KW - Construction workers
KW - Heat stress
KW - Intervention
KW - Research framework
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85020397496&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2486/indhealth.2016-0047
DO - 10.2486/indhealth.2016-0047
M3 - Review article
C2 - 28111405
SN - 0019-8366
VL - 55
SP - 201
EP - 209
JO - Industrial Health
JF - Industrial Health
IS - 3
ER -