Wan, R H J; Jia, A Y and Goh, Y M (2021) Managing climatic heat stress in Singapore: State of the practice and wearables on site. In: Scott, L and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 37th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-7 September 2021, Online Event, UK.
Abstract
Climatic heat stress is a prominent risk to safety and productivity of construction projects. In Singapore, the tropical climate pattern made wearables a cost-efficient safety measure to prevent heat injuries on site. A concurrent study was designed to understand the ecology of managing heat stress in Singapore’s construction industry. This involved an experimental study to test the effectiveness and usability of a commercial water-cooling headgear with a sample of 30 rebar and carpentry workers amid everyday practice on site. Participants' body temperatures with and without the water-cooling headgear were recorded with a thermal imagery to avoid interfering with the work. In parallel, ethnographic data were collected through observation and six focus groups. Paired-sample t-test between the experimental group and the control group turned a result of significant difference; the ethnographic data analysis confirmed its use is consistent with local coping convention. The research provides a first snapshot of Singapore’s state of practice of managing heat stress in the construction industry. It contributes to the knowledge of designing wearables for on-site heat stress mitigation, and establishes thermal imagery as a useful non-intrusive approach to heat strain monitoring on site.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | climate; heat stress; intervention; thermal imaging; water-cooling headgear; ethnography; ecosystem |
| Index terms: | coping, construction project, monitoring, effectiveness, climatic heat stress, rebar, mitigation, construction industry, heat stress, Singapore, focus group, injury, data analysis, usability, productivity, body temperature, thermal imaging, ecology, experiment, ethnography |
| Subjects: | building materials, analytical methods, health monitoring assessment and metrics, environmental science, data analysis and analytics, user-centered design, data collection methods, control systems, health conditions and diseases, environmental health, behavioral psychology, industry analysis, performance management, management, financial risk, qualitative and interpretive research, production management, Geography |
| Topics: | Site Management, Quality Management, Design Practice, Sustainability, Engineering Principles, Construction Materials, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Project Management, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Cost Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here