Building Safe, Equitable, and Inclusive Construction Workplaces for the Future

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 1574

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes 5095, Australia
Interests: culture in construction; gender equity in construction; construction worker wellbeing; project behaviours; qualitative research methods

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Guest Editor
UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes 5095, Australia
Interests: construction health; safety and well-being; risk management; resilience engineering; sustainability; adaptive reuse

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Guest Editor
School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Building ED, Room ED.G. 136, Parramatta South Campus, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Interests: construction project management; sustainable and smart construction; circular economy in built environment; women in construction; construction knowledge management; building education
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Guest Editor
School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Newcastle, A115, Romberg (Architecture) Building, Callaghan, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Interests: health, safety and well-being; construction management; construction management education; construction procurement; construction project management; contract administration; project management; public–private partnerships (PPPs)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Construction workplaces are changing rapidly due to technological advancements, evolving workforce dynamics, changes in workplace practices and expectations, global movements towards sustainability imperatives, and growing awareness of social responsibility. However, the potential of the sector has been limited by numerous safety and well-being concerns and barriers to inclusion and equity, hindering the full realisation of human capital contributions across construction workplaces.

This Special Issue, “Building Safe, Equitable, and Inclusive Construction Workplaces for the Future”, aims to explore innovative strategies, approaches, models, frameworks, and policies that help create construction workplaces which are not only physically safe but also socially inclusive and equitable to construction stakeholders. The integration of safety, inclusion, and equity into the culture of construction workplaces will create a more resilient, productive, and sustainable workforce to realise construction outputs.

Therefore, we invite original research, theoretical and experimental work, case studies, and comprehensive review papers that address themes including, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Strategies to enhance gender equity and inclusivity at workplaces;
  • Innovative models for safety and well-being culture design and management;
  • Digital transformation to create safer and equitable workplaces;
  • Inclusive workplaces for marginalised groups such as indigenous, LGBTQ+, and migrant workers;
  • Leadership styles and cultures that drive inclusive cultures;
  • Recruitment and career advancement approaches to build a more diverse workforce;
  • Accessible workplaces;
  • Policy, governance, and regulatory mechanisms to enhance safety, well-being, equity, and inclusivity.

Dr. Aparna Samaraweera
Dr. Udara Ranasinghe
Dr. Sepani Senaratne
Dr. Marcus Jefferies
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • workplace safety
  • gender equity
  • social inclusion
  • safety culture
  • equitable workplace culture
  • inclusive leadership
  • diverse workforce
  • diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
  • respectful culture

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 284 KB  
Article
Reporting of Work-Related Stress: Disclosure Hesitancy Among a Sample of Construction Managers in Ireland
by Patrick Bruce, Niamh Hickey, Victor Hrymak, Carol Bruce and Patricia Mannix McNamara
Buildings 2026, 16(5), 1071; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16051071 - 8 Mar 2026
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Abstract
Workplace stress in the construction sector is noted to have poor implications for employees and work procedures. Although workplace stress is discussed extensively in the literature, reporting of workplace stress-related matters remains relatively unexplored. This research explored the experiences of reporting stress-related issues [...] Read more.
Workplace stress in the construction sector is noted to have poor implications for employees and work procedures. Although workplace stress is discussed extensively in the literature, reporting of workplace stress-related matters remains relatively unexplored. This research explored the experiences of reporting stress-related issues among a sample of construction managers in Ireland. The study adopted an interpretative qualitative approach, comprising semi-structured interviews with twenty-five construction managers. The data were examined using interpretative phenomenological analysis. All participants reported experiencing various workplace stressors in construction settings. They expressed a strong hesitancy to report their experiences of workplace stress caused by these stressors, and reasons for disclosure hesitancy included fear, stigma, and possible repercussions. The inability to report these stressors exacerbated the issue and created a deep sense of mistrust, which resulted in low productivity and absences from work. Disclosure hesitancy of workplace stress undermines efforts to build safe, equitable, and inclusive construction workplaces by rendering a noteworthy occupational hazard invisible. When construction managers are reluctant to report work-related stress, organisations may remain unaware of both its presence and its impact, allowing stress-related risks to persist unaddressed. This lack of disclosure can effectively shield organisations from accountability in cases of litigation or regulatory enforcement. Full article
26 pages, 2592 KB  
Article
Impact of Transformational Leadership on New-Generation Construction Workers’ Safety Behavior: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach
by Hui Zeng, Xianglong Jiang, Qiaoxin Liang, Minwei Li and Yuanyuan Tian
Buildings 2026, 16(2), 354; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16020354 - 15 Jan 2026
Viewed by 747
Abstract
In recent years, despite the continuous improvement of China’s construction safety management systems and the adoption of advanced technologies, safety accidents remain frequent. This shift highlights the growing importance of human factors in construction safety. As the main labor force, the new generation [...] Read more.
In recent years, despite the continuous improvement of China’s construction safety management systems and the adoption of advanced technologies, safety accidents remain frequent. This shift highlights the growing importance of human factors in construction safety. As the main labor force, the new generation of construction workers differs significantly from previous generations in values and motivation, reducing the effectiveness of traditional safety management models. This study investigates the direct effect of transformational leadership on the safety behavior of new-generation construction workers. Using survey data collected from construction enterprises in Guangdong Province, China, and applying structural equation modeling (SEM), the results reveal that transformational leadership has a significant positive impact on safety behavior. All four dimensions—idealized influence, inspirational motivation, idealized influence (charisma) and individualized consideration—positively influence both safety compliance and participation, with inspirational motivation exerting the strongest effect (β = 0.509 for compliance; β = 0.446 for participation). These findings indicate that leaders who articulate a compelling shared vision can effectively internalize safety norms and motivate proactive safety participation. This study enriches theoretical understanding of safety leadership mechanisms and provides practical guidance for construction enterprises to enhance safety performance through cultivating transformational leadership among managers. Full article
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