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CIB Conferences

Abstract

Sexual health services being are critical for the well-being of construction workers, however, it has been lacking attention in many occupational settings. In Tanzania, construction workers, many of whom operate under informal or temporary conditions, face various sexual health challenges. This study examines the barriers to providing sexual health services on construction sites. Data was obtained from 80 randomly selected respondents on ongoing construction sites using questionnaires. The main barriers to providing sexual health are lack of funding for sexual health education, exclusion of sexual health from occupational health and safety, absence of collaborations between workplace with clinics or NGOs, and, lack of top management support in providing these services. These findings align with structural, socio-cultural, and institutional issues identified in the literature. Generally, there exist barriers to provision of sexual health services on construction sites ranging from financing to lack of top management commitment. This underscores the need to integrate sexual health services topics into Health and Safety (H&S) induction training; revise construction H&S policies and programs to explicitly include sexual and reproductive health information; develop the business case that links sexual health to workers productivity and absenteeism. This study contributes to the occupational health discourse in the construction industry in developing countries.

Keywords

Construction, occupational health, Sexual health services, Workers, Tanzania

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