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A Method to Assess Bullying and Harassment as an Upstream Determinant of Construction Worker Mental Health



Details

  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Background: Bullying and harassment in the workplace are increasingly recognized as hazardous exposures associated with poor mental health and suicidality. The construction sector has one of the highest rates of suicide among all occupations and is actively engaged in efforts to destigmatize mental health support. However, there has been less focus on reducing factors that may be contributing to poor well-being among construction workers. Methods: As a step toward addressing work-related determinants of mental health in construction, we collaborated with a large construction union to survey members about their experiences of abusive conduct. We adapted standardized questionnaires to better suit the sector, such as by assessing "hazing that went too far" and apprenticeship status. Additionally, we included questions on reporting of abuse, concern about the impacts of abuse, and an open-response to allow participants to share their perspectives. Results: We developed and tested a carefully-tailored survey of abusive conduct. The responses to the survey (over 3300, including 500 narrative responses) will facilitate data-driven interventions with the potential to prevent and address abuse. This paper describes the survey development process in collaboration with the union, domains of abuse that are relevant to the construction context, and the survey protocol. Conclusion: Through a collaborative effort, we developed an instrument to understand abusive conduct in construction and benchmark success in reducing adverse experiences of bullying and harassment. We recommend its use throughout the sector to reduce exposure to this well-being hazard. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • ISSN:
    0271-3586
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Cooperative Agreement
  • Genre:
    Journal Article
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Volume:
    68
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20069992
  • Citation:
    Am J Ind Med 2025 Mar; 68(S1):S152-S157
  • Contact Point Address:
    Cora Roelofs, ScD, CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, 8484 Georgia Ave, Suite 1000, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
  • Email:
    croelofs@cpwr.com
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2025
  • NORA Priority Area:
    Construction
  • Performing Organization:
    CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
  • Peer Reviewed:
    True
  • Start Date:
    20090901
  • Source Full Name:
    American Journal of Industrial Medicine
  • End Date:
    20240831
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:f5a72afd792dd7eb87c47b359c60d01195a56b443a8c2fe96300fff41aa6cae82d0be76087bf711d14cb15cde10d5edb08121b6670bc3c93740ef09d6fc4a71c
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 364.63 KB ]
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