Psychosocial stress of the building construction workers

Construction industry plays a vital role in development of infrastructure of a country. About 50% of the subjects of unorganised sector belonged to construction industry in our country. The questionnaire based cross sectional prospective study was undertaken to know the socio-economic status and the psychosocial stress & strain faced by the workers due to occupational exposure. The average age of the workers was 30.6 ±10.9 years. Majority of them (79.2%) were literates and earned below Rs 5000/-. About 59% were smokers and 37% consumed alcohol. The mean duration of present occupational exposure was 8.6 ±8.0 years. The workers were victim of different health impairment like occupational health hazards, psychosocial stress & strain etc. The psychosocial stress & strain were due to long working hours (73.3%), lower wages (60.4%), job uncertainty (56.9%), poor communication among workers with supervisors (22.7%). Exploitation by labour contractor, gender discrimination, sexual harassment was observed. Low job satisfaction (42.4%), injuries & accidents (47%) were also reported. About 94.6% of the workers were not aware of the different social security schemes. This occupationally exposed group of workers were victims of different psychosocial stresses & strains and other health impairments.