Relationships between occupational stress and occupational safety and health outcomes amongst construction workers: A meta-analysis of evidence from the past twenty years

Siu Shing Man; Dongli Wang; Steve Ngai Hung Tsang; Li Liu; Alan Hoi Shou Chan

doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2025.106939

Relationships between occupational stress and occupational safety and health outcomes amongst construction workers: A meta-analysis of evidence from the past twenty years

Siu Shing Man
, Dongli Wang
, Steve Ngai Hung Tsang
, Li Liu^*
, Alan Hoi Shou Chan

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Occupational stress (OS), as well as occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes, amongst construction workers has gained increasing attention in the last several years. Much research has been carried out to explore the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes. However, a study synthesising quantitatively the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes is lacking. This study systematically reviewed the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes amongst construction workers during the past two decades employing meta-analysis methods. Ninety-eight records extracted from 20 papers were analysed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.0 software. These records were from 6,536 construction workers. The relationships between OS and OSH outcomes (accidents, injuries, occupational health problems, safety behaviour and unsafe behaviour) were analysed. The potential moderators (OS type and region) possibly affecting the relationships were also analysed. Results showed that OS is negatively correlated with safety behaviour, while positively correlated with occupational health problems and unsafe behaviour. OS type was a significant moderator that significantly affected the relationships between OS and both safety behaviour and unsafe behaviour. Region was also a significant moderator that significantly affected the relationship between OS and occupational health problems and the relationship between OS and safety behaviour. Based on the findings, practical recommendations were proposed to alleviate OS amongst construction workers, thereby improving OSH outcomes within the construction workforce. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd.

Original language	English
Article number	106939
Number of pages	11
Journal	Safety Science
Volume	191
Online published	10 Jul 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2025.106939
Publication status	Published - Nov 2025

Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (2022YFB4500604 and 72301110), the Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project of Guangdong Province of China (GD25YYS35), the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (2024A04J2279), the China Postdoctoral Science Fund (2024 M760318), the 1st Batch of 2024 MOE of PRC Industry-University Collaborative Education Program (230805329290236) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (QNMS202418).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Research Keywords

Construction workers
Meta-analysis
Occupational safety and health outcomes
Occupational stress

Publisher's Copyright Statement

COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: © 2025. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

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title = "Relationships between occupational stress and occupational safety and health outcomes amongst construction workers: A meta-analysis of evidence from the past twenty years",

abstract = "Occupational stress (OS), as well as occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes, amongst construction workers has gained increasing attention in the last several years. Much research has been carried out to explore the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes. However, a study synthesising quantitatively the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes is lacking. This study systematically reviewed the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes amongst construction workers during the past two decades employing meta-analysis methods. Ninety-eight records extracted from 20 papers were analysed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.0 software. These records were from 6,536 construction workers. The relationships between OS and OSH outcomes (accidents, injuries, occupational health problems, safety behaviour and unsafe behaviour) were analysed. The potential moderators (OS type and region) possibly affecting the relationships were also analysed. Results showed that OS is negatively correlated with safety behaviour, while positively correlated with occupational health problems and unsafe behaviour. OS type was a significant moderator that significantly affected the relationships between OS and both safety behaviour and unsafe behaviour. Region was also a significant moderator that significantly affected the relationship between OS and occupational health problems and the relationship between OS and safety behaviour. Based on the findings, practical recommendations were proposed to alleviate OS amongst construction workers, thereby improving OSH outcomes within the construction workforce. {\textcopyright} 2025 Elsevier Ltd.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ssci.2025.106939",

language = "English",

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Relationships between occupational stress and occupational safety and health outcomes amongst construction workers: A meta-analysis of evidence from the past twenty years. / Man, Siu Shing; Wang, Dongli; Tsang, Steve Ngai Hung et al.
In: Safety Science, Vol. 191, 106939, 11.2025.

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Relationships between occupational stress and occupational safety and health outcomes amongst construction workers

T2 - A meta-analysis of evidence from the past twenty years

AU - Man, Siu Shing

AU - Wang, Dongli

AU - Tsang, Steve Ngai Hung

AU - Liu, Li

AU - Chan, Alan Hoi Shou

PY - 2025/11

Y1 - 2025/11

N2 - Occupational stress (OS), as well as occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes, amongst construction workers has gained increasing attention in the last several years. Much research has been carried out to explore the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes. However, a study synthesising quantitatively the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes is lacking. This study systematically reviewed the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes amongst construction workers during the past two decades employing meta-analysis methods. Ninety-eight records extracted from 20 papers were analysed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.0 software. These records were from 6,536 construction workers. The relationships between OS and OSH outcomes (accidents, injuries, occupational health problems, safety behaviour and unsafe behaviour) were analysed. The potential moderators (OS type and region) possibly affecting the relationships were also analysed. Results showed that OS is negatively correlated with safety behaviour, while positively correlated with occupational health problems and unsafe behaviour. OS type was a significant moderator that significantly affected the relationships between OS and both safety behaviour and unsafe behaviour. Region was also a significant moderator that significantly affected the relationship between OS and occupational health problems and the relationship between OS and safety behaviour. Based on the findings, practical recommendations were proposed to alleviate OS amongst construction workers, thereby improving OSH outcomes within the construction workforce. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd.

AB - Occupational stress (OS), as well as occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes, amongst construction workers has gained increasing attention in the last several years. Much research has been carried out to explore the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes. However, a study synthesising quantitatively the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes is lacking. This study systematically reviewed the relationships between OS and OSH outcomes amongst construction workers during the past two decades employing meta-analysis methods. Ninety-eight records extracted from 20 papers were analysed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.0 software. These records were from 6,536 construction workers. The relationships between OS and OSH outcomes (accidents, injuries, occupational health problems, safety behaviour and unsafe behaviour) were analysed. The potential moderators (OS type and region) possibly affecting the relationships were also analysed. Results showed that OS is negatively correlated with safety behaviour, while positively correlated with occupational health problems and unsafe behaviour. OS type was a significant moderator that significantly affected the relationships between OS and both safety behaviour and unsafe behaviour. Region was also a significant moderator that significantly affected the relationship between OS and occupational health problems and the relationship between OS and safety behaviour. Based on the findings, practical recommendations were proposed to alleviate OS amongst construction workers, thereby improving OSH outcomes within the construction workforce. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd.

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Relationships between occupational stress and occupational safety and health outcomes amongst construction workers: A meta-analysis of evidence from the past twenty years

Abstract

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UN SDGs

Research Keywords

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