The Relationship between Employee Absenteeism and Occupational Psychosocial Hazards in Construction Work Site

As the introduction of human resources especially construction workers is very important in the construction sector especially when the construction industry in Malaysia has grown rapidly in recent years and is largely dependent on human labor to work. Although human labor is important to the construction industry, human labor is also considered the most complex management resource. One of the challenges faced on construction sites is employee absenteeism as the construction sector is experiencing the negative effects of absenteeism. Thus, the objective of the study is to identify the factors of employee absence at the construction site, the impact of employee absence at the construction site on the organization and determine the strategies used in managing employee absence at the construction site. The research methodology is through a qualitative method with a case study where a total of five construction projects respondents have been selected from Grade 7 (G7) main contractors or subcontractor firms and this research is focused on construction sites in the Johor area. A qualitative research approach with a semi-structured interview instrument was conducted with the respondents to ensure their perspectives were analyzed. The data collected was analyzed using content analysis where coding and frequency distribution methods were used to achieve the objectives of the study. Respondents focused on employers and employees working under the construction project site. Employers refer to management level personnel such as project managers or those responsible for managing the presence of workers at the construction site while workers refer to skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers working at the construction site. The findings of the study show that work fatigue which is classified as occupational psychosocial hazards is the most significant factor that causes workers not to attend the construction site and has caused a loss of productivity at the construction site that needs to be solved by providing welfare measures to the workers.