The significance of labour factor in integrating sustainability concept into construction industry practice

Abstract

Sustainable Development (SD) has become a major consideration due to low responsiveness of industries to the natural environment and related social problems. The construction industry is a main natural resource consumer and a major contributor to country’s economy. Hence, the sustainable performance of construction industry is essential to achieve SD goals. The construction industry is a labour incentive industry and therefore, the way construction works are planned, scheduled and controlled depends directly on the labours performance. This research is aimed to evaluate the influence of labour factor in integrating sustainability concept into construction industry practice. The literature review identified the mostly used Sustainable Construction (SC) principles and revealed that Most of identified SC practices were influenced by the labour performance. This research is conducted with a quantitative approach using a questionnaire survey in two phases. Phase I was conducted with construction industry professionals, the sample size was 75, and Phase II was conducted with 50 construction labours. Findings revealed, labour having a significant role in implementing SC successfully. Lack of awareness was identified as the main reason for a negative impact from labour in SC. When integrating sustainable concepts into construction, labour management strategies should be also focused apart from the sustainable building materials and technologies to provide the best outcome for the client or society.