On-site building construction workers perspective on environmental impacts of construction-related activities: a relative importance index (RII) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) approach

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics of study participants

	Number	%
Gender
Male	221	100
Age group of participants
18 to 20	22	9.95
21–30	107	48.42
31–40	66	29.86
41–50	23	10.41
51–60	1	0.45
Above 60	2	0.90
Years in the construction industry
1–5	99	44.80
6–10	76	34.39
11–15	28	12.67
16–20	11	4.98
Above 20	7	3.17
Form of employment
Permanent	56	25.34
Temporal	105	47.51
Casual	60	27.15
Last level of formal education
Below primary	7	3.17
Primary	49	22.17
JHS	70	31.67
Secondary	65	29.41
Tertiary	30	13.57
Job specialty
Mason	62	28.05
Laborer	50	22.62
Carpenter	46	20.81
Steel bender	15	6.79
Electrician	11	4.98
Site foreman	8	3.62
Plumber	7	3.17
Painter	5	2.26
Mechanic operator	4	1.81
Scaffolding	3	1.36
Store keeper	3	1.36
Land surveyor	3	1.36
Driver	2	0.90
Site engineer	1	0.45
Quantity surveyor	1	0.45

Table 2. The relative importance index (RII) score for construction related environmental impacts

S/N	Environmental impacts related to construction process	RII	RII Ranking	Importance Level
1	Dust generation in activities with construction machinery and transport	0.866	1	H
2	Dust generation in earthworks activities and stockpiles	0.861	2	H
3	Dust generation in activities with cutting operations	0.853	3	H
4	Generation of noise and vibrations due to site activities (road roller, graders and compactors, etc.)	0.815	4	H
5	Raw material consumption during the construction process	0.814	5	H
6	Fires at areas for storing flammable and combustible substances	0.754	6	H-M
7	Breakage of receptacles with harmful substances (storage tanks for dangerous products)	0.751	7	H-M
8	Breakage of underground pipes (electric power cables, telephone lines, water pipes)	0.738	8	H-M
9	Interception of river beds, water channeling and stream water cut of (number of contact points with river beds)	0.738	8	H-M
10	Generation of greenhouse gas emissions due to construction machinery and vehicle movements	0.728	9	H-M
11	Operations with loss of edaphic soil (site preparation)	0.727	10	H-M
12	Fuel consumption during the construction process (the number of power generators, and concrete mixers)	0.721	11	H-M
13	Operations with high potential soil erosion (unprotected soils as a consequence of earthworks)	0.704	12	H-M
14	Water consumption during the construction process	0.700	13	H-M
15	Electricity consumption during the construction process	0.699	14	H-M
16	Operations with vegetation removal (site preparation)	0.699	14	H-M
17	Dumping of sanitary water resulting from on-site sanitary conveniences (soil emissions)	0.697	15	H-M
18	Generation of inert waste (rock, rubble, boulder, earth soil, sand, concrete, brick)	0.690	16	H-M
19	Generation of special (potentially dangerous) waste (treated timber, asbestos, preservative, adhesives, aerosol cans)	0.690	16	H-M
20	Emission of VOCs and CFCs (Synthetic paints and varnishes)	0.690	16	H-M
21	Dumping of sanitary water resulting from on-site sanitary conveniences (water emissions)	0.690	16	H-M
22	Generation of municipal waste by on-site construction workers	0.672	17	H-M
23	Generation of excavated waste material during earthworks	0.658	18	H-M
24	Operations that cause dirtiness at the construction site entrances	0.656	19	H-M
25	Generation of ordinary or non-special waste (wood, plastic, metal, paper, cardboard or glass)	0.655	20	H-M
26	Use of cleaning agents or surface-treatment liquids at the construction site (liquid cleaners, degreasers, solutions, polishing fluids and additives)	0.654	21	H-M
27	Use of concrete release agent at the construction site (plywood, overlaid plywood, aluminum or steel)	0.650	22	H-M
28	Dumping of water resulting from the process of cleaning concrete chutes or dumping of other basic fluids (soil emissions)	0.650	22	H-M
29	Increase in external road traffic due to construction site transport	0.648	23	H-M
30	Dumping of water resulting from the process of cleaning concrete chutes or dumping of other basic fluids other basic fluids (water emissions)	0.645	24	H-M
31	Interference in external road traffic due to the construction site	0.638	25	H-M
32	Opening construction site entrances with soil compaction (Length of the entrance to the site (m))	0.636	26	H-M
33	Dumping of water resulting from the execution of foundations and retaining walls (water emissions)	0.634	27	H-M
34	Dumping of water resulting from the execution of foundations and retaining walls (soil emissions)	0.633	28	H-M
35	Dumping derived from the use and maintenance of construction machinery	0.630	29	H-M
36	Land occupancy by the building, provisional onsite facilities and storage areas	0.623	30	H-M
37	Landscape alteration by the presence of singular elements (cranes)	0.621	31	H-M

Table 3. Total variance explained

Factor groups	Eigenvalue	% of Variance	Cumulative %	Difference in cumulative %
1	9.471	27.855	27.855
2	2.758	8.111	35.966	8.111
3	2.520	7.411	43.377	7.411
4	2.098	6.170	49.547	6.170
5	1.696	4.988	54.535	4.988
6	1.363	4.010	58.545	4.010
7	1.309	3.849	62.394	3.849
8	1.242	3.654	66.048	3.654
9	1.010	2.972	69.020	2.972
10	.910	2.678	71.697

Table 4. Summary of exploratory factor analysis results

Component	Category	Sub-factors	Factor loading
1	Local issues	Dust generation in earthworks activities and stockpiles	.902
		Dust generation in activities with construction machinery and transport	.886
		Dust generation in activities with cutting operations	.857
		Generation of noise and vibrations due to site activities (road roller, graders and compactors, etc.)	.623
2	Waste generation	Generation of inert waste (rock, rubble, boulder, earth soil, sand, concrete, brick)	.795
		Generation of ordinary or non-special waste (wood, plastic, metal, paper, cardboard or glass)	.768
		Generation of special (potentially dangerous) waste (treated timber, asbestos, preservative, adhesives, aerosol cans)	.754
		Generation of municipal waste by on-site construction workers	.739
		Generation of excavated waste material during earthworks	.510
3	Resource consumption	Water consumption during the construction process	.831
		Electricity consumption during the construction process	.826
		Fuel consumption during the construction process (the number of power generators, and concrete mixers)	.724
		Raw material consumption during the construction process	.679
4	Soil alteration and water emission	Dumping of sanitary water resulting from on-site sanitary conveniences (soil emissions)	.735
		Dumping of sanitary water resulting from on-site sanitary conveniences (water emissions)	.685
		Dumping of water resulting from the process of cleaning concrete chutes or dumping of other basic fluids (soil emissions)	.631
		Dumping of water resulting from the execution of foundations and retaining walls (soil emissions)	.621
5	Incidents, accidents and potential emergency situations	Breakage of receptacles with harmful substances (storage tanks for dangerous products)	.758
		Breakage of underground pipes (electric power cables, telephone lines, water pipes)	.745
		Fires at areas for storing flammable and combustible substances	.686
		Opening construction site entrances with soil compaction (Length of the entrance to the site (m))	.577
6	Effect on biodiversity	Operations with loss of edaphic soil (site preparation)	.803
		Operations with vegetation removal (site preparation)	.794
		Operations with high potential soil erosion (unprotected soils as a consequence of earthworks)	.708
7	Soil alterations	Dumping derived from the use and maintenance of construction machinery	.721
		Use of cleaning agents or surface-treatment liquids at the construction site (liquid cleaners, degreasers, solutions, polishing fluids and additives)	.681
		Use of concrete release agent at the construction site (plywood, overlaid plywood, aluminum or steel)	.649
		Land occupancy by the building, provisional onsite facilities and storage areas	.622
8	Transport issues, and local issues	Increase in external road traffic due to construction site transport	.627
		Interference in external road traffic due to the construction site	.608
		Operations that cause dirtiness at the construction site entrances	.607
		Landscape alteration by the presence of singular elements (cranes)	.578
9	Atmospheric emissions	Generation of greenhouse gas emissions due to construction machinery and vehicle movements	.835
		Emission of VOCs and CFCs (Synthetic paints and varnishes)	.850

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, MKB upon reasonable request.