Psychosocial risks in the Canadian construction and extractive industries

Abstract

Workers in the Canadian construction and extractive industries (CEIs) are exposed to psychosocial risk factors (PRFs) and experience a greater prevalence of mental health issues than the public. Guided by risk management theory, the purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, correlational study was to examine the relationship between five predictors (age, gender, residence type, employment arrangement, and rotation status); and 15 response variables (measures of Canadian CEI workers’ perspective of PRFs). Using a cross-sectional design, an 84-question survey was administered to workers (N = 174) over the age of 18 to obtain demographic and contextual data and scores for the PRFs using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire – Canadian version. Analysis of variance was used to compare means across groups to determine if there was a difference in views of PRFs. The findings revealed significant relationships between the predictors and workers’ views on their influence at work, development opportunities, meaning of work, role conflict, work-life conflict, and social community. While workers’ experiences are largely unique, there are also clear influences on PRFs based on age, gender, and employment arrangement.