STUDY ON BEHAVIOUR OF WORKERS IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY

Transcription

1 International Journal of Civil, Structural, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering Research and Development (IJCSEIERD) ISSN Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mar 2013, TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. STUDY ON BEHAVIOUR OF WORKERS IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY P. GANESH PRABHU 1 & D. AMBIKA 2 1 PG Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode, Tamilnadu, India 2 Assistant Professor Department of Civil Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode, Tamilnadu, India ABSTRACT The most challenging issue in Construction industry in the last decade is how to improve the production efficiency. Many researchers have been done in the last decade however a deeper understanding is still needed to improve the productivity by studying the workers behavior in construction industry. The performance of labor is affected by many factors and is usually linked to the performance of time, cost, work pressure, safety measures and quality. The aim of this study is to get the latest information and to identify the key factors that affect production efficiency in Tamilnadu by study of workers behavior in construction industry. Data s are collected through questionnaires and distributed to respondents who work at various projects in wide area in Tamilnadu. Respondents were required to rate and analyse using their experience and the factors were identified from past researches, which affects the project performance and then the level is measured based on their affect. The data collected are analyzed using Microsoft Excel or SPSS software which is analytical software. KEYWORDS: Behavior, Contractual Labours, Production, Efficiency, Performance INTRODUCTION Human resource is an important factor in the development of the construction industry and therefore understanding the labour behavior is very much important to improve the efficiency of production. Variations in the construction labour productivity can naturally make a great impact on national economy and productivity. Lack of safety, lack of skills, lack of quality of materials, lack of wages, communication barriers like that are mainly create psychological stress to the labours. It totally affects the labour production efficiency. Construction labor productivity has become such a word and one of the most frequently researched topics. In most countries, labor cost comprises 30 to 50% of the overall project s cost, and thus is regarded as a true reflection of the economic success of the operation. Horner et al. indicated that a 10% increase in construction labor productivity would yield annual savings of about 1 Billion to the British economy; a similar conclusion was echoed by Stoekel and Quirke (1992). Since construction is a labor intensive industry, the significance of this effect not only justifies the concern over its labor productivity, but it can also be argued that laborpower is the only productive resource, hence construction productivity is mainly depend upon human effort and performance. Therefore, the objective of this research is to identify and rank the relative importance of factors perceived by Contractors to affect construction labor productivity in Tamilnadu, so that the outcomes can be used by not only local, but international industry practitioners, who may be further interested in venturing into potential mega scale projects, but possess no prior practical knowledge of the construction industry in the State, to develop a wider and deeper perspective of the factors influencing the productivity, and provide guidance to projects and construction managers for efficient utilization of the labor force, thus assisting in achieving a reasonable level of competitiveness and cost effective operation.

2 60 P. Ganesh Prabhu & D. Ambika LITERATURE STUDY Productivity remains an intriguing subject and a dominant issue in the construction sector, promising cost savings and efficient usage of resources. Productivity is one of the most important issues in both developed and developing countries. The developed countries are aware of the importance of economic growth and social welfare. The developing countries which face unemployment problems, inflation and resource scarcity seek to utilise resources and in such a way to achieve economic growth and improve citizens lives. Productivity is an issue of particular importance to projects located within the Gaza Strip, as it is considered a newly-developed area, and a huge number of projects have been planned for the near future. The aim of this research is to identify factors affecting labour productivity within building projects, and to rank these factors according to their relative importance from a contractor s viewpoint. The analysis of 45 factors considered in a survey indicates that the main factors negatively affecting labour productivity are: material shortage, lack of labour experience, lack of labour surveillance, misunderstandings between labour and superintendent, and drawings and specification alteration during execution. [1] DESIGN OF QUESTIONNAIRES Factors Influencing Questionnaire Wages and salary, Working time, Compensation for labours, Job satisfaction, Communication, Safety measures, Camping conditions, Industrial relationship. Questions 1. Average working hours/ day? 2. Overall, how satisfied are you working for the company in this site? 3. Will you recommend this site as a good place to work? 4. Has the Engineer clearly conveyed the works to employees? 5. Is there a good communication from Employees to supervisor 6. Is there a good communication from Supervisor to employees 7. Are you having the right tools and Resources to do your job 8. Are you having the right Safety measures to do your job safely? 9. Got proper training to do my job? 10. Received the right amount of recognition for my work? 11. The amount of work expected is reasonable? 12. Supervisor actively listens to employees suggestion? 13. Supervisor enables the worker to perform at the best? 14. Supervisor treating everyone as a human? 15. How satisfied are you with your allowances? 16. How satisfied are you with your Camping conditions? 17. How satisfied are you with other benefits offered by the Company?

3 Study on Behaviour of Workers in Construction Industry to Improve Production Efficiency Chances of accident in your job 19. How satisfied are you with your overtime work wages? DATA ANALYSIS Data Analysis for Local

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6 64 P. Ganesh Prabhu & D. Ambika CONCLUSIONS The Inference made from the Questionnaire Survey are 1. Most of the local labours are working 8 to 10 Hrs/ day but the contractual labours needs to work for 10 to 12 hrs / day to earn least money equal to local labours % of local labours are getting work pressure from the site executives while remaining percentage feels comfort. 3. But 46% of contractual labours are getting high work pressure, 37% of peoples are getting medium pressure and others feel comfort. 4. The contractual labours are working in very poor working environment than local labours without proper shelter and poor food. 5. Only 34 % of contractual labours are satisfied with their camping conditions others are not so. 6. The local labours are feeling better than contractual labours provided the working environment is good % of contractual labours thinking that the supervisors are not respecting the human lives.

7 Study on Behaviour of Workers in Construction Industry to Improve Production Efficiency By providing good camping conditions and proper wages over the contractual labourers will feel more comfort and the productivity can be improved for better. REFERENCES 1. Adnan Enshassi, Sherif Mohamed, Ziad Abu Mustafa and Peter Eduard Mayer Factors Affecting Labour Productivity In Building Projects In The Gaza Strip journal of civil engineering and management 2007, vol xiii, no 4, Abdulaziz M. Jarkas, Camille G. Bitar Factors Affecting Construction Labor Productivity In Kuwait journal of construction engineering and management. doi: /(asce)co Anton Soekiman, Krishna S. Pribadi, Biemo W. Soemardi, Reini D. Wirahadikusumah Study On Factors Affecting Project Level Productivity In Indonesia international journal of engineering, tome ix (year 2011). fascicule 3. (issn ) 4. Aynur Kazaz, Ekrem Manisali, Serdar Ulubeyli Effect Of Basic Motivational Factors On Construction Workforce Productivity In Turkey journal of civil engineering and management 2008, 14(2): Carl t. Haas, John.d, Paul.m u.s construction labour productivity center for construction industry studies, report no.7, march Dozzi, s.p.; Abourizk, s.m. productivity in construction national research council canada 1993, isbn , ottawa, december Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe, Jackson A. Mwakali, Bengt Hansson Factors Affecting The Productivity Of Building Craftsmen Studies Of Uganda journal of civil engineering and management, 2007, vol xiii, no 3, Malcolm Patterson, Peter Warr and Michael West organizational climate and company productivity: the role of employee affect and employee level centre for economic performance, isbn Nabil Ailabouni, Kassim Gidado Factors Affecting Employee Productivity In The UAE Construction Industry 10. Rachel W. Y. Yee, Andy C. l. Yeung, T. C. Edwin Cheng The Impact Of Employee Satisfaction On Quality And Profitability In High-Contact Service Industries 11. Soekiman, K. S. Pribadi, B.W. Soemardi, and R.D. Wirahadikusumah Factors Relating To Labor Productivity Affecting The Project Schedule Performance In Indonesia

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