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The construction industry has been recording a high number of accidents without any sign of abating, the majority of which have been linked to poor health and safety practices. To reduce this menace, this study aims to evaluate the factors affecting health and safety practices on construction sites to improve health and safety practices.

First, this study reviewed previous studies to derive the factors affecting health and safety practices on construction sites, and based on the literature review, the 50 factors identified were used in developing the questionnaire that was administered to construction professionals. The returned questionnaire was then analysed using fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE).

According to the FSE results, inadequate safety planning has the highest critical value, followed by management failure, inadequate safety promotion, safety ignorance, poor supervision and enforcement, a casual attitude towards safety and insufficient experience. The analysis showed that the overall criticality of the factors to the Malaysian construction industry is high, suggesting that if addressed, the health and safety practices of the industry will be improved.

The study provides a holistic approach to the factors affecting health and safety practices in the construction industry using a method that has not been used by previous researchers. The findings will furnish decision makers in the construction industry with practical approaches to adapt and reinforce in the industry to improve health and safety practices.

Housing sufficiency is a critical indicator of national development and growth. However, in most countries, housing affordability remains a significant challenge, leading to a mismatch between housing supply and demand. The purpose of this study is to investigate the housing preferences, current occupation and the resulting surplus and shortage across various housing types.

Data were collected through a survey, and the analysis focused on quantifying the mismatch between preferred and occupied housing types.

Results revealed significant disparities between housing preferences and current occupation, with some housing types experiencing surplus and others facing shortages. The findings uncovered a 23% discrepancy in housing demand and supply. The sensitivity results indicate that 30% of the respondents currently living in a particular type of housing unit would choose to live there if given the option. The specificity results show that 90% of respondents not living in a particular type of housing unit would continue to avoid choosing it. Housing price, income, ethnicity, race and location are the major drivers of the housing preferences.

Developers can align their projects with consumer preferences to minimize surplus and shortages. Financial institutions may consider these insights when tailoring mortgage products to meet the diverse needs of potential homebuyers. This research provides a valuable foundation for strategic planning and policy formulation aimed at enhancing housing sufficiency and socioeconomic development in Malaysia.

This study lays the foundation for future research and for incentive mechanisms for homebuyers and developers. The results are useful to policymakers, developers, banks, consultants, housing associations and academics.

Contrasted with some other industries, the construction industry has been linked with the most noteworthy accident occurrence rate, the majority of which has been related to poor health and safety practises. This paper therefore sets out to conduct a comprehensive review of the critical success factors that can aid sustainable health and safety practises on construction sites in Malaysia.

The review focussed heavily on published reports, drawn between the years 2000 and 2022. The Scopus database was used for gathering the articles reviewed for this study.

After reviewing various literature studies, a total of 106 critical success factors were identified. All these factors were then categorised under the three pillars of sustainability. A total of 48 factors were grouped under the economic factors, 37 factors were grouped under the social factors and the remaining 21 factors were grouped under the environmental factors.

This paper conducted a comprehensive review of the critical success factors for bridging sustainability and health and safety. This study will help in developing a sustainable health and safety model that can drastically reduce the accident rate on the construction site.

Hospital building maintenance management constitutes a pertinent issue of global concern for all healthcare stakeholders. In Malaysia, the maintenance management of hospital buildings is instrumental to the Government’s goal of providing efficient healthcare services to the Government's citizenry. However, there is a paucity of studies that have comprehensively explored all dimensions of hospital building defects in relation to maintenance management. Consequently, this study seeks to evaluate the defects of hospital buildings in Malaysia with the aim of proffering viable solutions for the rectification and prevention of the issue.

The study utilised a quantitative approach for data collection.

The findings indicated that cracked floors, floor tile failures, wall tiles failure, blocked water closets, and damaged windows were some of the flaws that degrade hospital buildings. The study’s outcomes reveal that defects not only deface the aesthetic appearance of hospital buildings but also inhibit the functionality of the buildings and depreciate the overall satisfaction.

Considering the indispensable role of hospital buildings in the grand scheme of healthcare service provision and ensuring the well-being of people, the issue of defects necessitates an urgent re-evaluation of the maintenance management practices of hospital buildings in Malaysia. Previous studies on the maintenance management of hospital buildings in Malaysia have focused primarily on design, safety, and construction.

This is particularly important because defects in hospital buildings across the country have recently led to incessant ceiling collapses, fire outbreaks, ceiling, roof collapses, and other structural failures. These problems are typically the result of poor maintenance management, exacerbated by poor design and construction. These disasters pose significant risks to the lives of hospital building users.

This study offers invaluable insights for maintenance organisations and maintenance department staff who are genuinely interested in improving hospital buildings’ maintenance management to optimise staff's performance and enhance the user satisfaction of hospital buildings in Malaysia and globally.

Because of the sort of working environment and the nature of construction jobs, a high rate of poor mental health has been recorded in the construction industry. The aim of this study is to compare construction workers' mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

A survey questionnaire was developed and administered online to building environment professionals working on construction sites. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation. An independent sample t-test was also conducted to determine whether there was a significant difference in the mean before and during the COVID-19 infection.

The results show that mental health challenges were more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic. The result of the independent sample t-test revealed that there exists a significant difference in all the mean before and during COVID-19 except sleeping too much or too little; having low or no energy and lack of emotion that shows no significant difference.

This study is the first to compare the mental health of construction workers before and during COVID-19 in Nigeria. The significance of this study was that it would provide an insight for construction managers and other decision-makers on the most critical mental health challenges on construction sites, which will help in an attempt to improve the mental well-being of construction workers.