Despite being a key provider of employment, construction work significantly contributes to poor mental health among young construction workers worldwide. Although there are studies on the psychosocial risk factors (PRFs) that make young construction workers susceptible to poor mental health, the literature is fragmented. This has obscured a deeper understanding of PRFs and the direction for future research, thus making it challenging to develop appropriate interventions. To address this challenge, we systematically reviewed the literature on young construction workers’ PRFs using meta-aggregation, guided by the PICo, PEO, and PRISMA frameworks. We sought to synthesize the domains of PRFs that affect young construction workers’ mental health, and to determine the relationships between the PRF domains, psychological distress, and poor mental health. A total of 235 studies were retrieved and 31 studies published between 1993 and 2020 met the inclusion criteria. We identified 30 PRFs and categorized them into ten domains, which were further classified into personal, socio-economic, and organizational/industrial factors. The findings of this review contribute to achieving an in-depth understanding of young construction workers’ PRF domains and their patterns of interaction. The findings are also useful to researchers and policymakers for identifying PRFs that are in critical need of attention.

Despite the significant contribution of the construction industry to national and global economies, the risk it poses to the health and safety of its workers is concerning. With substantial improvement in physical health and safety performance, especially in industrialised and developed economies, attention has shifted to the mental health of construction workers. The construction industry has implemented several worker-focused and management-oriented intervention programs, but problems related to poor mental health persist, and the industry ranks high in suicide figures. Entering the Construction 4.0 era, the use of technologies and new construction methods have been touted to have the potential to improve mental wellbeing. Therefore, this research addresses this lingering problem by: (1) identifying and classifying stressors of mental health and (2) assessing the relevance of adopting prefabricated construction to improving mental health. A two-phased PRISMA-guided systematic review was conducted due to the nonavailability of past studies that combine the concepts of prefabrication and mental health. Mental health stressors were grouped into three categories, with industry-related identified as having an influence on management/organisational and personal stressors. Prefabricated construction, on the other hand, by virtue of its benefits over traditional construction, is found to be capable of eliminating, or at least reducing, the impact of industry-related stressors and, by extension, promoting good mental health.

Previous research indicates that involving representatives of the public in stakeholder management increases the likelihood of obtaining successful outcomes when managing the public as stakeholders on PPP projects. Relatively little is however known about the exact roles played by traditional authorities, who are powerful public representatives and significantly influence the public and the stakeholder management process on PPP projects worldwide. A case study of a PPP was conducted to explore this question. Through a thematic analysis of data collected from multiple sources, four main roles of traditional authorities were identified: mediation; project monitoring; community representation; and custody management of community culture and physical resources. These roles and their associated outcomes make traditional authorities a crucial link between project executors and the public during stakeholder management. This study provides a step towards developing strategies for collaborating with traditional authorities for better stakeholder management of the public on PPP projects.

The study focuses on evaluating the factors contributing to the success of external stakeholder management (SM) at the project planning stage from the perspective of developing countries. Questionnaire survey data was collected from project management practitioners in Ghana and analyzed using mean scoring, factor analysis, and fuzzy synthetic evaluation. The analysis revealed that the involvement of external stakeholders in decision-making is of topmost rank ($\mathrm{mean}=4.717$ ) and effective communication with external stakeholders makes the highest individual contribution ($\mathrm{weighting}=1.000$ ). In descending order of contribution based on index values, the seven activity groups established are involving stakeholders and ensuring mutual trust (4.666), effective communication with stakeholders (4.633), sustaining relationships with stakeholders (4.373), preliminary planning (4.006), analyzing project and stakeholder information (3.719), assessing stakeholder attributes and needs (3.675), and developing and applying effective strategies (3.610). Following, an evaluative process model (EPM), which is essentially a practice framework, was developed and demonstrated using the relative weightings of activities. The expert validation results showed that the EPM is comprehensive, objective, reliable, and appropriate for the purpose. The findings contribute to advancing stakeholder theory in construction management research in the context of developing countries. Practitioners can effectively apply, evaluate, compare, and improve the contributing activities in external SM process to inform about needed managerial decisions in projects. The findings will guide practitioners to be more externally oriented, resolve external stakeholder issues proactively, manage project more ethically and sustainably, and improve project success.

Young construction workers employ different practices to cope with psychosocial risks, most of which prevent them from achieving mental well-being. Managing this problem has been a challenge because research on the topic is fragmented. To contribute to addressing this problem, we systematically reviewed the literature on young construction workers’ coping practices using meta-aggregation guided by the PICo and PRISMA frameworks. We sought to identify young construction workers’ coping mechanisms and the factors that influence their choice of coping practices. A total of 345 studies were retrieved, and 24 studies published between 1993 and 2022 met the inclusion criteria. Using deductive thematic analysis, we identified 28 coping practices and categorized them into eight mechanisms and three domains. Eleven determinants of young construction workers’ coping choices emerged and were classified as personal and environmental factors. This review provides knowledge for building theory on young construction workers’ coping and stresses the need for further studies on the role of influencing factors such as age, individual resilience, coping experience, religion, and spirituality. Findings from this review can serve as an evidence base for researchers, occupational health practitioners, and policy-makers for developing interventions that can promote the uptake of beneficial coping practices by young construction workers.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify the conditions under which the internal environment of small construction firms makes them either develop or adopt an innovation.Design/methodology/approach: The research described in this paper adopted a qualitative case study approach. The data were obtained from multiple sources such as face-to-face semi-structured interviews with company representatives and from project reports.Findings: The study identified that firms’ decision to either adopt or develop an innovation is determined by a complex interaction between their internal environment and 12 different conditions. Some of the findings contrast widespread perceptions in broader literature on innovation development and adoption in small construction firms.Research limitations/implications: The study focused only on firms from two regions in Ghana. Additionally, adopting a purely qualitative approach meant that the quantitative impacts of the different factors were not presented.Practical implications: The results can inform the decisions of agencies and persons wishing to invest their resources in innovation activities of small construction firms. It can also inform the policy debate and directions of government and industry associations looking to create innovation-friendly environments in the small business sector.Originality/value: This research provides a better understanding of innovation development and adoption by small construction firms. Given that there is little previous research on innovation by small construction firms, especially in developing economies, the paper complements existing studies that generally focus on much larger firms and developed economies.