Measuring Labour Productivity in Labour Intensive Works on the Road Construction in Ghana

Abstract

Reports from earlier studies indicate that low productivity is common in the construction industry in developing countries like Ghana and this could be attributed to poor labour productivity. The aim of this research is to develop a model for estimating the optimal Construction Labour Productivity (CLP) which can aid construction industry in determining and measuring labour productivity in labour intensive public works in Ghana. The objective are to identify the trend in measuring labour productivity; to identify the factors that affect construction labour Productivity on the site and to evaluate the effect of identified factors that affect construction labour productivity in Ghana. Content analysis was adopted to measure the productivity and the factors that affect productivity of labour during labour intensive works. The findings indicated that productivity; profitability; performance; efficiency and effectiveness contributed to the tipple model and productivity from literature was measured under work measurement which included time study; work sampling and activity sampling. The factors identified were grouped into five components, Management and control component; Work characteristics component; Equipment component; Materials component and workers component.