The journey of graduate students through academia can be a difficult road plagued with several roadblocks due to several intersectional factors. These difficulties often impact the students’ mental health with severe consequences on their well-being and personal and academic achievements. There is a critical need for researchers to conduct studies in response to the positive mental well-being for this group of trainees, considering their peculiar role in the scholarly environment. This study aimed to explore the scientific research on the health and well-being of graduate students; typify the scientific landscape and development trajectory, cooperation networks, and fundamental research areas; and identify areas of needed research in this field. A bibliometric analysis of articles indexed in Scopus and published in the past decade (2012 to 2021) was undertaken. The results revealed that the research on graduate students’ mental health and well-being has increased over the years, significantly in the past two years, probably owing to the incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns around remote learning. The highest number of publications was from the United Kingdom (U.K.) and United States (U.S.), while the organizational affiliations were mainly from universities. The most prominent source type of publications was journal articles. The result also shows a weak collaboration across countries and organizations. The study identifies other areas of useful research, collaboration, intervention strategies, and policy review.

In enhancing business and project performance, a robust health and safety (H&S) regulatory system which is homogenous is one of the prerequisites, but developing countries (DCs) are lagging in this. Using Nigeria as a case study, the research developed strategies for improving the regulation of construction H&S in a complex regulatory environment. Semi-structured interviews, analysled thematically, was adopted. The proposed H&S improvement strategies include contextualised construction H&S legislation that will enable the establishment of a homogenous but flexible regulatory system. This will be overseen by an independent National Construction H&S regulator but with the controlled support of selected industry and social actors. The regulatory process will include persuasion (such as negotiation), punitive measures, education and awareness strategies. The proposed strategies also include that H&S legislation should stipulate duties for clients, contractors and subcontractors including goal-based legislation with mainly absolute duties, and prescriptive legislation or guidance. This should not be misconstrued as oversimplifying complex phenomena. The study could help policymakers and H&S experts in countries such as Nigeria develop strategies informed by realities of H&S regulatory complexities, in increasing the chance of workability and acceptance of the strategies proposed by the regulated.

Purpose: This purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study that assessed the attitudes, commitment and impact of public and private sector clients’ involvement in construction health and safety (H&S) in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: Structured questionnaires were designed based on literature review and a pilot study, and administered to public and private clients in Nigeria’s construction industry. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyse the data. Findings: The result shows that while clients’ attitudes towards H&S are not encouraging, public clients commitment and attitudes are better than that of private clients. This is emphasised by the significant difference between the categories of clients and: accident investigation; clients auditing contractors H&S records at the preconstruction stage. The common client H&S practice includes conducting site visits and inspections and attending H&S meetings, while engaging in H&S awareness and H&S audit during construction are not common. However, when clients are involved in H&S, it has resulted in a reduction in accidents, compensation claims, rework and improved the relationship between clients and contractors. Practical implications: The findings form a basis for improving client involvement in H&S (factoring in the differences in clients) which policymakers, the construction industry and academics will find beneficial. Originality/value: The study contributes to understanding the attitudes and commitment of public and private clients in H&S, evidencing the implications of the differences in their needs, characteristics and behaviours. While the study is the first to investigate the area in Nigeria, it also extends the knowledge of the discourse comparatively in broader terms.

Purpose: Given the complexities in improving safety in the construction industry globally, which is exacerbated by the complex safety environment in developing countries (DCs), prevention through design (PtD) has been established to improve occupational safety and health (OSH) where applied. However, it has received very little attention in DCs and the extant literature with limitations. Using Nigeria as a case study, the current study advances the understanding of PtD in DCs by investigating the critical barriers to PtD and other potential OSH responsibilities of designers in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approach: Twenty-eight semi-structured interviews and e-interviews of architects, builders and civil engineers in Nigeria were analysed using the six-phase thematic analysis. To improve the trustworthiness of the research, triangulation, peer-debriefing, refining the interview protocol and thick detailed description were done.Findings: The study's findings question the extant general knowledge and understanding of PtD among clients and designers and its technical aspect among designers where it is skewed to structural safety and omitted in universities' curricula. This explains the inconclusive findings of existing studies on why there is a high level of awareness of PtD but a low level of implementation. There is little client support for PtD, and designers have limited influence on clients in terms of it. The fear of liability from PtD is exacerbated by the limited legal system and lack of adequate legislation in the country. The demotivating attitudes of clients and contractors towards designers in terms of PtD are also reported, just as there are project delivery barriers such as traditional procurement not supporting PtD as design and build procurement does.Social implications: For the sustainable growth in the practice of PtD, the increased and improved quality of education and awareness of PtD is needed but this must focus on instilling a robust understanding of it among designers based on the local context. This educational requirement can be supported by statute.Originality/value: Through qualitative data, the findings explain and offer insight into the inconclusive findings in the extant studies on PtD in Nigeria. Also, it contributes to improving health and safety by advancing the understanding of the critical barriers to PtD and other potential OSH responsibilities of designers in D Nigeria's construction using qualitative data.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate whether clients’ knowledge about construction procurement systems influence project performance objectives and the role of procurement systems on project performance objectives in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: Using a two-round survey, 90 usable questionnaires from construction professionals in South Africa plus 3 expert clients were collected. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics – means, percentages and the analytical hierarchy process to determine the rank of client project performance criteria, while inferential statistics – Pearson product-moment correlation was used in establishing the relationship between the level of clients’ knowledge and project performance. Findings: It was found that the common procurement systems used are traditional, followed by management-oriented and integrated procurement systems. In addition, it emerged that client’s knowledge of procurement systems shows a positive relationship with the achievement of project performance objectives. Based on these findings, it is concluded that some procurement systems being selected by clients in South Africa are inappropriately selected. This is despite the emergence of more efficient procurement systems. If procurement systems are selected based on the knowledge of the client, it will give better chances of a successful project outcome. Practical implications: The research suggests the need for clients to seek ways to improve their understanding or increase their knowledge of procurement systems in construction. Policymakers’ responsibilities in driving policies that will place responsibilities on clients to seek a reasonable way to improve their knowledge where possible is implied in the study. Originality/value: It contributes to improving project performance by examining whether the level of knowledge possessed by a client influences project performance.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a study that identified and assessed the barriers to client involvement in health and safety (H&S) in the Nigerian construction industry.Design/methodology/approach: On the basis of literature review and a pilot study, structured questionnaires were designed and administered to clients and their representatives in ongoing construction projects in Nigeria. Descriptive and inferential statistics were then adopted while analysing the data.Findings: The research reveals that the major barriers to client involvement in H&S in Nigeria’s construction industry focus on the gaps created by lack of H&S legislation in specifying client roles and responsibilities in H&S, trust and confidence in the supply chain, low levels of awareness at various levels, procurement issues, the attitudes of the various members of the project team and resource-related issues. In total, 20 barriers to client involvement in H&S were identified and assessed.Practical implications: Policy makers will find the study beneficial as it provides a good understanding of the issues to address while making policies that seek to involve the client in H&S in Nigeria.Originality/value: While the findings offer insight on the barriers to client involvement in H&S in Nigeria’s construction industry, the study also contributes to the discourse in developing countries. The paper recommends transparent steps in procurement, H&S legislation that factors in economic incentives and community and financial institutions contributions to involving clients in H&S. The study is the first attempt to investigate the barriers to client involvement in construction H&S in Nigeria, contributing to the dearth of H&S literature in Nigeria.