Abstract
In highway construction projects, labor-oriented work is an integral part of the management process, requiring analysis of factors affecting labor productivity during Covid-19 pandemic. This research identified 53 influential factors affecting construction labor productivity at selected cities and towns in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines. Due to the pandemic, the construction industries incurred substantial profit losses. More so, the construction workers are too much affected because of the Enhance Community Quarantine (ECQ) imposed by the local government. Results indicated there was laxity on the Covid-19 protocols. No health worker in the project site ranked the highest in the health & safety factor group with an RII of 0.97 and ranked 1st among 53 factors on the different groups. Besides, no safety engineer was assigned to the projects and ranked 2nd with an RII of 0.93. Among the 7 groups of factors, the health and safety group ranked 1st with 0.81, followed by the schedule compression group with an RII of 0.78. Hence, these two groups of factors have a strong relationship, as evidenced by number of workers reduced. It was learned that the contractors’ strategy was to increase the number of working days to cope with their schedules. Hypothesis testing supported that there are various significant factors influencing labor productivity loss during the Covid-19 pandemic, as suggested by more than 50% of the respondents.
Highlights
It is widely recognized that an efficient highway infrastructure is a requirement for economic and social development and its importance of transport for economic growth resulting from its multilateral links with different forms of human activity [1]
Testing of Ho: p = 0.50 vs. Ha: p ≠ 0.50, where p represents that the proportion of respondents who suggested the influencing factor affects labor productivity is significant or non-significant
These are no health worker on-site, no safety engineer, lack of empowerment for laborers, working six days per week, frequent working overtime, sifting of work or reassignment of work, poor condition of equipment & tools, and lack of laborer's safety standard. It means that more than 50% or a majority of respondents suggested that significant factors were affecting labor low productivity during the pandemic. These results reconciled with the ranking factors' results using the Relative importance index from the preceding results of a group of influencing factors in labor productivity
Summary
It is widely recognized that an efficient highway infrastructure is a requirement for economic and social development and its importance of transport for economic growth resulting from its multilateral links with different forms of human activity [1]. Literature reviews indicated the construction labor cost comprises 12% - 30% of the highway projects' total budget costs [2]. Labor productivity has become a prominent issue in the construction industry [3]. This research's primary goal is to provide information about essential factors affecting labor productivity during the Covid pandemic to the construction industries' project management team, who would likely enable the project’s success. This research will help augment the understanding of the essential influencing factors affecting the fluctuation of labor productivity in highway construction projects so that the construction project managers can effectively manage labor productivity, despite the pandemic's effect. E-mail: Department of Management & Allied Areas, School of Graduate Studies, IIC University of Technology, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, and GRADXS, India
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