33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) - Osaka and Kyoto, Japan - 2025

https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0100

Impacts of Prefabrication on Construction Workers’ Wellbeing: a Case Study

Vishal Sharma1, Don Mah2, Neetu Sharma3, Mohamed Al-Hussein4, Ahmed Bouferguene5 & Haitao Yu6

1Instructor, J.R. Shaw School of Business, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0004-9617-7640
2Instructor, Construction Engineering Technology, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5954-9273
3Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting and Finance, MacEwan University, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0001-4723-4862
4Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1774-9718
5Professor, Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4629-6620
6Research and Development director, Landmark Group of Companies, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-7798-4867

Abstract

The Industrial Revolution had lasting impacts on our social structures as well as on the built environment. The paradigm shift from a mostly agrarian society dominated by agricultural activities outdoors within a rural setting to working in an indoor environment within an urban setting has radically changed the way of life for individuals, families, and communities around the world. However, until recently, industrialization had not transformed the construction sector to the extent that is had other industrial sectors. Due to advances in modular construction, though, the construction sector is beginning to see transformation, bringing with favourable impacts on the construction workforce. Prefabrication has improved safety in construction; improved the lifestyle of workers by reducing fatigue and short-term and long-term disability claims; lowered the barriers to increased participation of women in the workforce; and enabled those less highly skilled to enter the construction job market. This paper systematically analyzes these trends in reference to a case study of the transformation of a large residential builder from traditional on-site construction to factory-based panelized construction.

Keywords

Industrial Revolution, prefabrication, construction industry, worker well-being, culture and change.

Files


Full Text
 

Reference

Download: BibTeX | RIS Format

Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Sharma, V., Mah, D., Sharma, N., Al-Hussein, M., Bouferguene, A. & Yu, H.. (2025). Impacts of Prefabrication on Construction Workers’ Wellbeing: a Case Study. In Seppänen, O., Koskela, L., & Murata , K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) (pp. 729–738). https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0100

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Sharma, V., Mah, D., Sharma, N., Al-Hussein, M., Bouferguene, A. & Yu, H.. (2025). Impacts of Prefabrication on Construction Workers’ Wellbeing: a Case Study. IGLC33. https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0100

 

Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

2015 © All Rights Reserved.