Construction productivity is a vital component of any building project, without it projects become delayed and budgets quickly become overwhelmed. This is why it is vital that you ensure all of your contract workers are singing from the same hymn sheet in terms of your project vision and deadline. Moreover, ensuring that all of your contract workers work together as part of a team, can improve productivity and ensure your project comes in on time and on budget, according to a report by the National Research Council in Canada. This process starts with an understanding of both the importance of productivity and the various reasons for a loss in labor productivity. Let’s take a look.
Factors Affecting Construction Productivity
There is a variety of issues that can affect labor productivity on a construction project and possibly delay the building process for an indefinite period. According to the National Research Council in Canada, market conditions, Government policy, even poor weather conditions could also have a detrimental impact upon construction productivity. Further research by Intergraph, lists the many factors that can delay or seriously impair a particular project. With thanks to this research, we have detailed the most relevant below. Keep in mind, that these points are just a snapshot of some of the issues and they may change depending on market conditions, or the geographical position of your construction project.
Morale and Attitude
According to the report, the moral and attitude of your contract workers can seriously dent your productivity, and can result in a number of serious other issues if not handled correctly. The report says the confidence and discipline of a contract worker can be lowered “due to a variety of issues” including conflicts, disputes, excessive health and safety hazards, overtime, poor site conditions, contract changes, and an unkempt workspace.
Fatigue
Construction productivity can also be significantly impacted if your contract workers are feeling fatigue, generally caused by extended periods of “physical exertion”, according to the report. There are a number of ways in which you can stop this from happening, more notably in terms of diet and eating the right variety of foods. This topic was the focus of an examination by GoContractor into the advantages of providing your contract workers with a proper diet to fuel their working day. According to the piece, in the UK, it’s estimated that skipping a meal costs that economy £300 million a year, because “hungry workers are less productive”. In the US, productivity drops when contract workers lack in energy or aren’t mentally engaged, which is directly attributed to bad nutrition. Fatigue can also pose a number of issues to your contractor safety. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to ensure you have appropriate health and safety protocols in place to ensure this doesn’t become an issue.
Contractor Overtime
According to the research, if work exceeds the 40-hour work week, your contract workers could exude a poor mental attitude, therefore reducing both the output and efficiency of their work. Therefore, for the purposes of construction productivity, it’s extremely important that your scheduling process does not exceed the 40-hour limit, and if it does, that you take the appropriate action to ensure your contract workers are looked after. If you fail to take action, this will only hurt your productivity.
Contractor Absenteeism and Turnover
According to the report, losses in both money and time are associated with high turnover and absenteeism on construction projects. Furthermore, the research suggests projects which lack sufficient manual labor will “usually be impacted” more than others. Other factors, such as extreme weather conditions, could also increase “absenteeism and turnover”, according to the report. Replacement workers could also seriously hamper your productivity, as they may be unfamiliar with your site, which means your other contract workers may have to “stop work and show them what to do”, which can result in four days of lost work for each contract worker, according to the research.
Hazardous Work Area
It is extremely important that your contract worker’s work area is devoid of any notable safety risks. Of course, risks are generally unavoidable when you’re working in the construction industry, but they can be significantly reduced. Therefore, the research states that by having a work area which is deemed hazardous, may actually reduce your construction productivity in the process. If the work area is quite dangerous “restrictions may limit time and exposure of workers in the area” resulting in less time on the job.
Calculating Labor Hours
There is also another factor to consider in terms of construction productivity, and that is the amount of labor hours that is lost as a result of insufficient productivity. According to Chron, the concept is a measurement of the “total number of hours” put into a particular project or the “work performed” throughout the course of a particular day on site by all of your workers combined. In terms of construction, the piece says that labor hours can be “compared against productivity” to gain a broader understanding of “how much each employee contributes to the income gained from a specific job”. According to the piece, this process will ensure that you keep the cost at a minimum and enhance your productivity in the process. According to the piece, there are a few ways to calculate this appropriately. We have summarized a few of the points below.
Calculate Income
According to the piece, the first thing you should do is calculate how much income will be gained by the labor of your contract workers. Secondly, you should “determine your expected earnings” for your project, or the total amount of earnings expected.
Calculate Labor Hours
Your next step, according to the piece, is to calculate the total number of labor hours, or as it’s commonly referred to as man hours. The piece says that you should “multiply the number of employees working in the project timeframe, by the total number of hours in the same period”. This will allow you to see the “total labor hours being utilized”.
Calculate Labor Productivity
Finally, you should divide your “productivity measure by your labor hours” to get an understanding of the total amount of labor-hours productivity. This process should determine the amount of revenue expected from a construction project, the labor costs and the contribution of work each contract worker will make to a project.
How GoContractor Can Help Reduce Inefficiencies
GoContractor was built with worker productivity in mind. Our platform allows your contract workers to conduct their orientation training at home, when it suits them, ensuring that they are fully trained and ready to start on day one. With GoContractor, workers can upload documents and pictures and take their orientation training, eradicating the need for excessive paperwork or additional training costs associated with multiple trainers. Therefore, with our platform, you can find a brand that enhances your construction productivity and cuts back your losses. Want to find out more?
