ABSTRACT

The effects of working conditions and job satisfaction on occupational safety and productivity have been put forward in many studies. Many research upon working conditions in countries where construction industry has importance in the economy, has revealed problems and pointed out their solutions. On the other hand, the lack of any broad research on these issues is a deficiency in a country where the construction industry’s proportion in GNP is 9% with a 30% share in the economy with its sub-sectors as well as with an almost 10% share in total employment. In this study, it was aimed to determine the level of satisfaction of the engineers, architects, city planners, safety experts working at the construction sites upon the site conditions as well as the job itself and by performing this effort to put forward negative factors which may affect health and productivity of the employers and recommend solutions for them. In the scope of this research, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 102 technical personnel in the district of Istanbul and 78 construction sites were visited. Interviews were performed with 78 correspondents in their worksites but remaining 24 technical personnel were visited in the offices where they are working in project consultant firms, investor companies, public corporation, health and safety common units , 31 questions which asked correspondents vis-a-vis were evaluated, two questionnaires extracted. It is observered that long working hours average 59 hours per week , less weekend holidays 3.4 days per month and high number of occupational accidents 58% of the correspondents witnessed an incident in their sites characterize the industry. Moreover, responses to the work-life balance and leisure time related questions indicate that majority of participants’ complaints are related with these issues. In conclusion, it is considered that this study gives meaningful information for future comprehensive studies by establishing a causal relationship between the stress factors faced by the technical staff working at construction sites and their health, reveals the working conditions in the construction sites, and helps to decrease/eliminate gender discrimination in workplaces by showing the negative facts.