PRESENTEEISM � PRESENCE AND IMPACT ON SAFETY IN SINGAPORE �S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Abstract

Presenteism refers to the situation of attending work despite illness and/or injury and the medical condition hinders the work performance. Even though it has been gaining attention of researchers due to the high cost incurred on health, economy and society, the coverage of presenteeism in the context of the construction industry and its impact on workplace safety is still limited. In order to close this research gap, the paper proposes a mechanism of the impact where presenteeism results in reduction in body capacity below the ordinary level, and thus exposes the individual to higher risks due to cognitive failure. The objectives identified for this aim is to investigate the association between (1) presenteeism and safety risks, (2) presenteeism and body malfunctions and (3) body malfunctions and safety risks. The proposed mechanism was developed through literature review and preliminary interview with companies’ management team and the authority. A survey of 497 foreign construction workers was carried through random sampling and the data collected was used to validate the proposed mechanism. The findings points to a 52% of presenteism rate and a 35% of workers having encountered at least one presenteeism - related accident where a sick worker is at fault. The paper discovers negative consequence of presenteeism on cognitive and psychomotor capacity in alertness, concentration, working memory, reasoning ability, responsiveness, senses, coordination, muscle strength, balance and emotions. The paper also concludes that there is a tendency for workers to experience higher risks in making mistakes at work, getting electric shock, slipping or tripping or falling and getting cut by objects, when committing presenteeism. However, it was not proven that body malfunction results in higher safety risks, hence the proposed mechanism was not validated. The skeleton of this study is based on the self-administrated thus it bears the inherent limitation which is subjective opinion. The small scale of 3 used in the questionnaire, which was intentional for the workers to easily understand, might compromise the result’s reliability. Hence, observational or experimental study is recommended to provide quantitative analysis of presenteeism’s impact on body capacity and safety risks.