Analysis of health and well-being practices among older construction site-based workers in South Australia

There are limited studies undertaken on the prevailing health and wellbeing practices of older construction workers, and how these practices influence the employee satisfaction and performance. To narrow this gap, the study aims to explore how the health and wellbeing practices influence the performance of older construction based workers. A questionnaire based survey was performed among the 85 South Australian older (50 plus years) construction workers involved in site based project work to identify the prevailing health and wellbeing practices and their impact on work ability. The survey data was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics with regression analysis to predict the impact of the practices on work ability. Eighteen health and wellbeing practices were identified to be significant in influencing the work ability and productivity of older construction site-based workers. The results indicated that the highly ranked five practices were from the 'leadership and organisational support' category as follows: (i) my employer cares about my health; (ii) employers should play an active role in improving the health of their employees; (iii) my company's leader are committed to worker health, safety and well-being; (iv) preventative screening; and (v) my employer provides me with resources necessary to maintain good health. The least ranked practices were drawn from the following 'workplace health promotion (WHP)' programs category: (i) corporate sponsored challenges; (ii) healthy food options on site cafeteria or healthy snack option; (iii) case managers to track disease management; (iv) medication adherence programs; and (vi) monitoring of health goals / biometrics, BMI and weight loss, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. The overall sum of working ability reported by most respondents was found to be good and moderate. The identified practices could be used for the promotion and development of interventional strategies aimed at improving the general and mental wellbeing of older construction workers.