Noise disturbance increases negative emotions and unsafe behaviour among construction workers

Abstract

Construction works and activities generate a high level of noise, which can have a negative impact on workers. Prolonged exposure to noise disturbance can result in psychological changes, such as reduced awareness, and physical changes, such as hearing impairment, in workers, which affect their behaviour. Coupled with negative emotions, noise disturbance can magnify workers’ unsafe behaviour. Adopting a case study research design, this research collected noise level data from an apartment project in Surabaya, Indonesia, and used a questionnaire survey to assess the level of noise disturbance, and workers’ negative emotions and unsafe behaviour in the project. The research found that the noise levels, particularly for structural works, were generally beyond the advisable threshold specified in the government’s regulation. As a result, workers who performed structural works experienced higher noise disturbance and more negative emotions, and tended to display more unsafe behaviour than workers who performed finishing works. The research also found that noise disturbance increases negative emotions and unsafe behaviour among construction workers. In addition, the result indicates that negative emotions can mediate the relationship between noise disturbance and unsafe behaviour. Managing noise levels, therefore, can be a strategy worth implementing to improve health and safety in construction projects. Furthermore, requiring workers to wear a hearing protection device is not adequate for construction noise management. Involving mitigation strategies higher in the hierarchy of risk controls is needed for this purpose.