STRATEGIES TO ALLEVIATE IMPACTS OF AGEING ON CONSTRUCTION SITE SUPERVISORS

Abstract

One of the problems faced by Singapore is the ageing population, which can be observed from the increase in median age of resident population by 10.7 to the current highest at 40.5 years since the 1990s. Coupled with low birth rates, there will be insufficient growth in labour force to replace the ageing citizens, and the impacts of an ageing population could affect Singapore’s economic growth. This study aims to identify the strategies that can alleviate the impacts of ageing on construction site supervisors. The specific objectives are to: (1) identify the problems and challenges faced by construction site supervisors due to ageing, (2) recommend strategies to address ageing issues of site supervisors, and (3) investigate the enablers and barriers to implementing new technologies for site supervisors. Based on the literature review conducted, a set of questionnaire was designed. A total of 40 sets of data were collected and analysed. The greatest challenges of ageing are found to be: physical demands of the work, learning a new technology, which could possibly be made worse by impacts of ageing such as reduced visual sharpness, reduced hearing sensitivity, and loss of physical strength. The next finding is that drones and wearable technologies, coupled with training in technology enhanced work and wellness programs can potentially be used to ameliorate these impacts. Lastly, the barriers that could hinder the effective implementation of the technological alternatives are identified as: lack of budget to implement new technologies and high costs involved in maintaining them. It is recommended that organisations adopt some of these findings to help their ageing site supervisors better face the challenges and impacts of ageing at work.