Stress impacts on organisational culture and personal behaviour– a construction industry perspective in Australia

A study early this century revealed that young men working in construction in Australia had 2.38 times the national average chance of committing suicide. There was little in-depth research into stress impacts on professionals in the project management of construction projects, nor on attitudes to awareness, avoidance and management of stress in that industry compared with across business at large. This study of 489 participants including construction project managers, administration people within construction companies, and people from broader business used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate attitudes to awareness, avoidance and management of stress among construction project management professionals, as compared with non-construction professionals working in construction companies and participants across business at large. The quantitative findings revealed very different responses from the various participant types to several survey questions, and the qualitative analysis revealed important insights into what changes are urgently needed within the industry, why they are needed, and how those changes must be introduced.