Swedish Construction Industry Research Articles

Perceptions of mental health, suicide and working conditions in the construction industry-A qualitative study.

The aim of the study was to explore perceptions of mental ill health, suicidal behaviour and working conditions among male construction workers, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of these phenomenon and to identify relevant avenues for workplace interventions. Data were collected in individual and group interviews, and 43 individuals from the Swedish construction industry, workers, union representative and managers, participated in the study. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Five main themes were found: Difficult to talk about mental health, Demanding working environment affects mental health, Substance abuse among construction workers, Importance of management, and Need for routines and social support in the workplace. Many participants reported that there was a stigma related to mental health. Suicides that had occurred among colleagues were perceived to come out of the blue. The working environment in the construction industry was perceived to have a negative effect on mental health, and it was reported that the management played an important role in both the cause and prevention of mental health problems. The results from this Swedish study are in accordance with previous international research regarding a macho culture, stigma of mental health and a demanding working environment in the construction industry. The study adds to existing knowledge by highlighting that suicides were perceived to be very unexpected, that poor physical health affected mental health and that many participants did not know how to deal with mental health issues in the workplace.

Barriers and Facilitators for Usage of Self-Compacting Concrete—An Interview Study

Workers in the construction industry must endure different weather conditions, long working hours, and engage in repetitive and strenuous jobs with unrealistic deadlines. Sick leaves, caused by accidents and by work-related diseases, are common in the construction industry. Hand–arm vibration from hand-held power tools is a cause of significant ill health (disorders of the blood vessels, nerves, and joints). Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a fluid concrete and does not need to be vibrated. Despite the health advantages of SCC, its market share in Sweden is lower than in comparable countries. The aim of this article is to describe views, opinions, and knowledge concerning the work environment and health in concrete casting and to identify barriers and facilitators of SCC usage. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 interviewees from the construction industry in Sweden. The answers were analysed from a human–technology–organisation (HTO) perspective in order to identify barriers and facilitators for a broader usage of SCC. The results indicate that knowledge about SCC is low within the Swedish construction industry, including educational institutions; when SCC is chosen, it is chosen exclusively due to its technical characteristics, and not because it eliminates vibrations. Barriers to a broader usage of SCC comprise an incomplete knowledge base, clients who never choose it, recipes that are said to be too demanding, and workplace traditions. Facilitators comprise large companies investing in knowledge development about SCC and engaged persons promoting it. This study used an HTO-based model (BTOH) to identify barriers and facilitators for a broader usage of SCC, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of reasons for the low usage of SCC and ways of increasing it.

Why firms do not expect climate policies to have the intended effects – positioning in a polycentric governance landscape

A polycentric governance regime that includes non-state actors has potential to increase the pace in mitigating climate change if there is concerted action among the actors involved. However, previous research has shown that climate policy directed at business firms does not always have the intended effects. Taking a polycentric perspective to climate governance, this paper contributes insight into why some firms expect that to be the case. The paper builds on qualitative interviews with firms in the Swedish construction and civil engineering industry. We apply positioning theory to analyse firms’ views on their own and other actors’ roles and responsibilities in climate transformation. The results suggest that governance authorities could take on a more traditional, coercive leadership role, setting clear rules and regulations, if these extend in time and space to create a market where the shared goals are ambitious, and the playing field is level for firms.

Digital transformation of the wood construction supply chain through building information modelling: current state of practice

PurposeThis study aims to present a state-of-the-art review of building information modelling (BIM) in the Swedish construction practice with a focus on wood construction. It focuses on examining the extent, maturity and actual practices of BIM in the Swedish wood construction industry, by analysing practitioners’ perspectives on the current state of BIM and its perceived benefits.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was selected, given the study’s exploratory character. Initially, an extensive review was undertaken to examine the current state of BIM utilisation and its associated advantages within the construction industry. Subsequently, empirical data were acquired through semi-structured interviews featuring open-ended questions, aimed at comprehensively assessing the prevailing extent of BIM integration within the Swedish wood construction sector.FindingsThe research concluded that the wood construction industry in Sweden is shifting towards BIM on different levels, where in some cases, the level of implementation is still modest. It should be emphasised that the wood construction industry in Sweden is not realising the full potential of BIM. The industry is still using a combination of BIM and traditional methods, thus, limiting the benefits that full BIM implementation could offer the industry.Originality/valueThis study provided empirical evidence on the current perceptions and state of practice of the Swedish wood construction industry regarding BIM maturity.

Firm performance, imperfect competition, and corruption risks in procurement: evidence from Swedish municipalities

Previous research has shown that corruption risks may distort market incentives in high-risk contexts. However, there is a dearth of evidence on the potential impact of corruption in settings characterized by low corruption and high-quality institutions. Against that background, this paper delves deeper into the alleged consequences of corruption by examining the link between corruption risks in public procurement and the profitability of firms in the Swedish construction industry. We introduce a novel measure of corruption risk based on the share of single bidder contracts that a firm has won. Validity analysis confirms that our measure is correlated with an alternative corruption measure and local tender winners. Our results reveal that firms that win many single bidder contracts have higher profitability than other firms in the sector: 10 percentage points higher single bidding rate firms have a 0.2–0.6-percentage-point higher sales margin. The findings underscore that public procurement corruption risks distort markets and economic incentives, and that this risk is present even in low-corruption contexts such as in Sweden.

The significance of feminist infrastructure: #MeToo in the construction industry and the green industry in Sweden

AbstractTo better understand the interplay between digital activism and feminist infrastructure, this study investigates #MeToo activism in the Swedish construction industry and green industry. Both are industries in transition characterized by a dissonance between formal incentives, that encourage women and others to work in environments previously dominated by white men, and the informal power structures hosting a toxic masculinity. Based on media texts and interviews with key persons from the industries, the article situates #MeToo in a local context and shows how it was embedded in a supportive social, cultural, and technical infrastructure. In both industries, at the time of #MeToo this feminist infrastructure was already in place consisting of: an awareness of the problem of sexual harassment and abuse, knowledge of feminist explanatory models, established feminist online networks, and a supportive feminist culture, which together with widespread digital and feminist literacy became instrumental in the organization of the movement. Social media connected activists and created a critical mass by supporting the uniting of conflicting identity positions around shared differences. The established feminist infrastructure meant that the #MeToo activism, by articulating a widespread affective dissonance, pushed open doors that were already half open and forced them wide. This can explain some of the movement's success in Sweden.

National culture and occupational safety – a comparison of worker-level factors impacting safety for Danish and Swedish construction workers

Denmark and Sweden are societally and regulatory similar countries with large differences in occupational injury rates. Denmark has consistently had twice the rate of reported injuries compared to Sweden and a 45% higher rate of fatal injuries in the construction industry. The current study aims to further investigate the perceived underlying factors responsible for the difference in injury rate between Denmark and Sweden by examining the possible impact on safety climate and safety behaviour of cooperation, perceived organizational support, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), planning, safety motivation, and long-term orientation. The paper is based on a questionnaire study completed by 346 construction workers from 48 Swedish construction sites and 465 construction workers from 37 Danish construction sites. The results show that all six predictors were positively related with safety climate and/or safety behaviour in both countries. However, the level of the predictors was generally higher in Sweden, and there was a stronger positive relationship with the outcomes in Sweden than Denmark. Specifically, the valuation of cooperation and OCB, planning and long-term orientation were more dominant in Sweden. These differences illuminate some of the possible factors underlying the difference in injury rate between the Danish and Swedish construction industry.

A Post-Analysis of the Introduction of the EU Directive 92/57/EEC in the Swedish Construction Industry

The EU directive 92/57/EEC focuses on ensuring that health and safety-related matters are taken into consideration during every stage of construction-related work and has been introduced into the regulations of the member countries. In 2006, Sweden was tasked by the European Commission to clarify its implementation of the directive, including which management roles and responsibilities were to come into effect during both the planning and eventual execution of construction work—changes that ultimately were introduced into the national regulations in 2009. Focusing on the accident trends in the construction industry in the years immediately following these regulatory changes, we find that the new management roles and responsibilities had no apparent effect on the accident rates. Furthermore, we argue that there is a need to broaden the analysis regarding the implementation of the EU directive 92/57/EEC to also include nation-specific changes to health and safety management and policy. These qualitative studies should also include a dedicated focus on how changes to management structures and processes may affect the prevalence of occupational diseases specifically.

An Empirical Analysis of Barriers to Building Information Modelling (BIM) Implementation in Wood Construction Projects: Evidence from the Swedish Context

Building information modelling is gradually being recognised by the architecture, engineering, construction, and operation industry as a valuable opportunity to increase the efficiency of the built environment. Focusing on the wood construction industry, BIM is becoming a necessity; this is due to its high level of prefabrication and complex digital procedures using wood sawing machines and sophisticated cuttings. However, the full implementation of BIM is still far from reality. The main objective of this paper is to explore the barriers affecting BIM implementation in the Swedish construction industry. An extensive literature review was conducted to extract barriers hindering the implementation of BIM in the construction industry. Secondly, barriers to the implementation of BIM in the wood construction industry in Sweden were extracted using the grounded theory methodology to analyse expert input on the phenomenon of low BIM implementation in the wood construction industry in Sweden. Thirty-four barriers were identified. The analysis of this study also led to the development of a conceptual model that recommended solutions to overcome the barriers identified to help maximise BIM implementation within the wood construction industry. Identifying the main barriers affecting BIM implementation is essential to guide organisational decisions and drive policy, particularly for governments that are considering articulating regulations to expand BIM implementation.

Managing the complexity of green innovation

PurposeGreen innovation can promote both environmental sustainability and economic growth. However, its development and implementation can be complex due to the need to align innovation activities within and across companies. In this study, the authors examined how this complexity can be managed by analyzing how individual companies combine different innovation activities to develop green innovation, and how companies along the value chain align to implement these innovations.Design/methodology/approachThe dataset comprises both interviews and a survey of senior executives from the Swedish wood construction industry. These data were first analyzed by using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify innovation activity configurations at the level of the individual company. The interviews were then analyzed to identify alignment mechanisms enabling the implementation of green innovation along the value chain.FindingsAt the company level, the authors found three innovation activity configurations with varying levels of complexity: (1) systemic innovation by proactive companies, (2) process innovation by reactive companies and (3) inaction by technology-independent companies. On the value chain level, the authors found three alignment mechanisms that facilitate the implementation of green innovation along the value chain. These mechanisms promote cooperation by increasing efficiency, opening up new market opportunities and increasing the level of servitization.Originality/valueThis paper analyzes the complexity of green innovation and provides novel insights into how complexity is managed at the level of both the individual company and the value chain.

Safety Built Right in: Exploring the Occupational Health and Safety Potential of BIM-Based Platforms throughout the Building Lifecycle

This article investigates the opportunities of using digital building platforms based on Building Information Modelling (BIM) to increase occupational health and safety (OHS) in building design, construction, operation and deconstruction. The data collection followed a mixed-method approach with a systematic mapping review and focus group discussions with industry practitioners from the Swedish construction and real estate industry. Use cases were identified from both venues, as were prevailing barriers, potential facilitators, best practices and future applications. The findings highlight OHS potentials of digital building platforms for Rule-Based Checking and Design Validation, Team Building and Communication, Site Layout and Task Planning, Real-Time Monitoring, Equipment and Temporary Structures, Robotic Task Performance and Learning and Documentation. A set of principles is proposed to promote a higher degree of lifecycle and stakeholder integration: (1) technology, (2) data and information, (3) business and organization, (4) people and communication and (5) industry structure and governance aspects.

Towards the implications of Boverket's climate declaration act for sustainability indices in the Swedish construction industry

Regulatory uncertainty is typically the inevitable consequence of introducing new regulations or even changing the old ones by the state agencies that interacts with the normative structures in the society. This study seeks to shed light on this relational impact in the Swedish construction industry by examining the managers' impression of the recently introduced Climate Declaration act by Boverket. Based on the results of a survey of the industry executives' opinions, it was established that the desired impacts of the regulative measures will require application of binding levers, whether as incentives or deterrents, the lack of which is evident in Boverket's Climate Declaration act. The main notion of the respondents was that the ultimate outcome of such regulations should be to lead the industry towards the selection of products and processes that produce less carbon dioxide over the whole life cycle and actualize a circular economy. The findings also acknowledge that the effectiveness of the Climate Declaration act will appear in the long run and this convention needs to be reviewed and amended over several stages to result in the expected payoffs.

The hype factor of digital technologies in AEC

PurposeThis paper aims to focus on 11 digital technologies (i.e. building information modeling, artificial intelligence and machine learning, 3D scanning, sensors, robots/automation, digital twin, virtual reality, 3D printing, drones, cloud computing and self-driving vehicles) that are portrayed in future trend reports and hype curves. The study concentrates on the current usage and knowledge of digital technologies in the Swedish architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry to gain an insight in the possible expectations and future trajectory of these digital technologies.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies an abductive approach which is based on three different types of methods. These methods are a literature and document study which focused on 11 digital technologies, two workshops with industry (13 participants) and an online survey (N = 84).FindingsThe paper contributes to a current state analysis of the Swedish AEC industry concerning digital technologies and discusses the trajectory of these technologies for the AEC industry. The paper identifies hype factors, in which the knowledge of a digital technology is related to its usage. From the hype factors, four zones that show different stages of digital technology usage and maturity in the industry are induced.Originality/valueThe contribution of the paper is twofold. The paper shows insight into opportunities, the current barriers, use and knowledge of digital technologies for the different actors in the AEC industry. Furthermore, the study shows that the AEC industry is behind the traditional Gartner hype curves and contributes with defining four zones for digital technologies for the Swedish AEC industry: confusion, excitement, experimentation and integration.

Effects of construction industry support for PhD projects: The case of a Swedish scheme

One of the many varieties of university–industry collaboration is industry engagement in doctoral programmes. A scheme operated by the Development Fund of the Swedish Construction Industry since the early 1990s has supported thesis projects for about 150 PhD candidates. While they were doctoral students they were employed by contractors as industrial doctoral candidates or by universities. The purpose of this investigation was to analyse how, as PhD graduates, they perceived the benefits of doctoral studies for themselves as individuals and also how they have contributed to the organization that employs them. Results from a survey with 125 respondents show that the greatest individual benefit is that of being able to access relevant information more rapidly, and that the greatest perceived organizational benefit arises from their ability to cooperate with knowledgeable clients.

Occupational exposure to noise and cold environment and the risk of death due to myocardial infarction and stroke

PurposeThe present study examined a possible association between occupational exposure to noise, working and living in cold conditions, and the risk of mortality in myocardial infarction and stroke.MethodsThe present cohort study consists of 194,501 workers in the Swedish construction industry that participated in health examinations between 1971 and 1993. Noise exposure was defined on a job-exposure matrix based on a survey of the working conditions carried out during the mid 1970s. All workers were categorised into three main regions of Sweden, differing in temperature: Reference (Götaland), colder (Svealand), and coldest (Norrland). Relative risks (RR) were analysed by negative binomial regression adjusting for age, BMI, and smoking habits.ResultsModerate and high noise exposure was associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction (RR 1.10–1.13 with 95% CI over unit) and stroke mortality (RR 1.15 to 1.19 with 95% CI over unit). There was an increased risk for myocardial infarction (RR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01–1.20), but not for stroke mortality (RR 1.09, 95% CI 0.94–1.25) associated with living and working in the coldest region. There was an interaction on the risk of myocardial infarction mortality between different regions and noise exposure (p = 0.016), but not for stroke mortality (p = 0.88).ConclusionsThe study indicates an interaction between working at hazardous noise levels and living and working in cold conditions for increased mortality in myocardial infarction.

Relying on reference cases when evaluating new technical solutions? Evaluation of technical documentation in a case study

Serial failures have occurred when introducing new technical solutions in the Swedish construction industry. In an earlier interview study exploring introduction of new technical solutions, documentation and reference cases provided by the supplier are given as the main sources for evaluation. This paper aims at addressing the questions: 1. What kind of documentation concerning building physics are provided by suppliers? 2. How well does the suppliers’ documentation meet the need for verification? In order to address these questions, the case of hygrothermal performance of cross laminated timber structures in multifamily dwellings was chosen. An inquiry of data was sent out to four suppliers at the Swedish market, asking for documentation and reference cases provided. Based on the documentation given, an assessment was made of to which extend the documentation can support verification of appliance to the relevant requirements of the Swedish building regulations. The case study shows reference cases are scarce and existing documentation is not comprehensive, thus indicating the building industry might have a disproportional high confidence in reference cases. The results will be used to suggest requirements for reference cases to be used for verification.

Occupational accidents in Swedish construction trades

The purpose of this study is to analyze accidents occurring in the Swedish construction industry, focusing specifically on the situation in the individual trades. The article includes all occupational accidents with at least 1 day of absence from work that were reported to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency for the year 2016. The results, focusing on accident cause, injured body parts as well as accidents per weekday, month and age, show that although the trades share commonalities regarding occupational accidents, a number of trade-specific problem areas stand out. With this in mind, conclusions are drawn regarding the situation in each respective trade and suggestions are made for future studies focusing on accidents in construction industry trades.

Integrated project team performance in early design stages – performance indicators influencing effectiveness in bridge design

ABSTRACTTo create multi-functional and integrated project teams, and to adopt a team perspective in the early design stages, it is recognised in the literature that a more effective process is required; one that reduces the probability of costly changes and difficulties during construction. This paper presents an evaluation of project team collaboration during early design and development of construction documents for bridges in Sweden. The purpose was to study key variables influencing the performance of integrated project teams by using importance performance analysis (IPA). A self-evaluation questionnaire addressed clients, contractors, and structural engineering consultants in the Swedish bridge construction industry. The questionnaire addressed three essential cornerstones of value-creation during the engineering design process; culture, structure and competence. These were addressed at three organisational hierarchy levels, the organisation, project, and the individual level. Our results show that increased support and resources are required at the project level for better project team performance. Results further identify that project culture needs to be developed including both collaboration and social relationships as well as project competence, especially the ability to solve mutual issues. This research offers a ‘generalised’ and prioritised view of the challenges in the Swedish bridge construction industry in terms of creating integrated project teams.

Coordinated construction logistics: an innovation perspective

Coordinated construction logistics is an increasingly discussed topic in the Swedish construction industry. It is suggested as a means to increase efficiency in transportation, decrease material usage, coordinate health and safety on-site, etc. Much research on construction logistics has been done from a supply chain management perspective, often highlighting construction logistics as a necessary rational tool to improve efficiency in construction industry. However, could there be other ways to study this phenomenon? The purpose of this paper is to map empirically found coordinated construction logistics models and explore them as different types of innovation. The findings suggest that coordinated construction logistics models should be regarded as not being a fully embedded innovation as they have not yet changed the processes in the way they set out to do initially. Furthermore, differences are identified between company-based models, project-based models and system-based models, and suggest that differences in, for example, development, impact and objectives should be regarded both when conducting research on and when implementing coordinated construction logistics in practice. Finally, it is concluded that commitment, communication and cooperation are important when implementing coordinated construction logistics, which is in line with findings within the supply chain management literature.

Environmental considerations in the Swedish building and construction industry: the role of costs, institutional setting, and information

Despite increasing evidence that being an environment-friendly company not only benefits the environment but also makes long-term economic sense, the transition to a more sustainable society is extremely slow. This is true of the building and construction industry as well. At a strategic level, environmental issues have received more attention with the establishment of roles such as environmental managers and implementation of advanced environmental management systems. However, adoption has been slow in the absence of a holistic approach to environmental challenges, partly reinforced by a perception that giving more than the legally required level of environmental consideration will only add to costs without corresponding financial benefits. This raises the following question that the study aims to answer: What is the most important factor influencing decision makers’ in adopting environmental considerations? To this end, it analysed questionnaire data collected from decision makers in the Swedish construction industry along with an in-depth case study of a specific building and construction company. The results show that decision makers perceive informational and institutional constraints on the adoption of environmental considerations. Lack of information is perceived as the biggest obstacle to environmental considerations. If information and knowledge about clients’ and end users’ financial benefits from adopting environmental considerations need to be exploited, they have to be supported by contractual forms that discard a short-term focus on the investment costs of a building in favour of a focus on long-term operational and maintenance costs and benefits.