Balancing sustainability and safety: examining the moderating effect of health and safety management on indigenous sustainable construction practices and musculoskeletal injuries

Abstract

While indigenous methods are often praised for their ecological sustainability, they are also perceived as physically demanding and potentially unsafe. Thus, this study aims to determine whether effective health and safety management (HSM) can transform these indigenous practices into safer, more sustainable construction systems that balance environmental responsibility with worker well-being. A cross-sectional analytical design was adopted to examine this relationship among construction professionals and site personnel in Nigeria. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was employed for hypothesis testing and moderation analysis, while machine learning techniques (Random Forest (RF), Decision Tree (DT), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN)) were applied to capture non-linear patterns, assess feature importance, and validate predictive robustness. Findings from both inferential and predictive models reveal that structured and effective HSM is the strongest and most consistent determinant of reduced MSK injuries. Indigenous sustainable practices, whether technological (β = -0.116, p ≈ 0.068), material (β = -0.063), or methodological (β = -0.046) show directionally protective but statistically weaker effects, and their influence becomes meaningful only within robust safety management systems. The study further establishes that HSM exerts a direct effect (β = -0.14 to -0.15, p < .05) on injury reduction rather than moderating the indigenous practice–injury relationship. The study concludes that while integrated indigenous sustainable practices contribute modestly to safety outcomes, institutionalized HSM remains the dominant mechanism for preventing MSK injuries.

Keywords

Sustainable Development / Musculoskeletal injuries in construction / Sustainable construction / Machine learning in construction safety / Occupational health and safety in construction / SDG 3

References

[1] Akano OA, Hanson E, Nwakile C, Esiri AE. Integrating sustainability and safety in high-risk industries: a framework for balancing operational efficiency and environmental responsibility. Global J Res Multidisciplin Stud, 2024, 2(02): 027-037

[2] Ansah EW, Ankomah-Appiah E, Amoadu M, Sarfo JO. Climate change, health and safety of workers in developing economies: a scoping review. J Clim Change Health, 2021, 3 100034

[3] Chakraborty T, Das SK, Pathak V, Mukhopadhyay S. Occupational stress, musculoskeletal disorders and other factors affecting the quality of life in Indian construction workers. Int J Constr Manag, 2018, 18(2): 144-150

[4] Chellappa V, Srivastava V, Salve UR. A systematic review of construction workers’ health and safety research in India. J Eng Des Technol, 2021, 19(6): 1488-1504

[5] Demerouti E, Bakker AB. The job demands-resources model: Challenges for future research. SA J Ind Psychol, 2011, 37(2): 01-09

[6] Eze E, Sofolahan O, Siunoje L. Health and safety management on construction projects: the view of construction tradespeople. CSID J Infrastruct Dev, 2020, 3(2): 152-172

[7] Fayyaz K, Shahzaib M, Aziz A, Irfan M, Salah Alaloul W, Musarat MA. Cultural factors impacting health and safety (H&S) practices in a developing construction economy. Sustainability, 2025, 17(3): 911

[8] Hilmi AH, Hamid AR. Musculoskeletal disorders: industrial insights and ergonomic interventions. Malaysian J Ergonom (MJEr), 2023, 5: 61-78

[9] Hinze J, Godfrey R, Sullivan J. Integration of construction worker safety and health in assessment of sustainable construction. J Constr Eng Manage, 2013, 139(6): 594-600

[10] Huang YH, Chen PY, Grosch JW. Safety climate: new developments in conceptualization, theory, and research. Accid Anal Prev, 2010, 42(5): 1421-1422

[11] Kanahole HJ (2019) Investigation of risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders among building construction workers, Windhoek Namibia (Doctoral dissertation, University of Namibia)

[12] Kineber AF, Antwi-Afari MF, Elghaish F, Zamil AM, Alhusban M, Qaralleh TJO. Benefits of implementing occupational health and safety management systems for the sustainable construction industry: a systematic literature review. Sustainability, 2023, 15(17): 12697

[13] Kumar GP, Thangavelu RB. Postural analysis and ergonomic intervention of unorganized workers in Indian construction sectors. Work, 2024, 79(4): 1653-1664

[14] Nkwopara CJ (2025) Investigating the impact of ergonomic risk factors and musculoskeletal pain on the mental health of young construction workers in British Columbia (Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia). https://doi.org/10.14288/1.0448268

[15] Nyamboki JR (2024) Role of Organisational Culture in Preventive Management of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Construction Workplaces: Case Study of Masonry Workers, Nairobi County (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi)

[16] Onyango J (2021) Health impacts of building materials on construction workers. In Ecological and Health Effects of Building Materials (pp. 543–566). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76073-1_28

[17] Rashidi A, Woon GL, Dasandara M, Bazghaleh M, Pasbakhsh P. Smart personal protective equipment for intelligent construction safety monitoring. Smart Sustain Built Environ, 2025, 14(3): 835-858

[18] Sakinala V, Paul PS, Fissha Y. Promoting safety of underground machinery operators through participatory ergonomics and fuzzy model analysis to foster sustainable mining practices. Sci Rep, 2024, 14(1): 16319

[19] Shannon B, Jennings W, Friedman L. Systematic scoping review of occupational health injuries and illnesses among Indigenous workers. Occup Environ Med, 2022, 79(9): 577-585

[20] Singh C, Singh D, Khamba JS. Exploring an alignment of lean practices on the health and safety of workers in manufacturing industries. Mat Today: Proceed, 2021, 47: 6696-6700

[21] Toochukwu AC. Sustainable construction practices: balancing cost efficiency, environmental impact, and stakeholder collaboration. Int Res J Modern Eng Technol Sci, 2025, 7(1): 4118-4140

[22] Wibowo MA (2024). Green construction and local wisdom integration for sustainability: A systematic literature review. Civil Eng J 10(11). https://doi.org/10.28991/CEJ-2024-010-11-020

[23] Young C (2023) Balancing Health and Safety with Sustainability: Leading question: How can health, safety and sustainability be balanced?. In Critical Questions in Sustainability and Hospitality (pp. 111–120). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003218425

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s)