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Green construction practices: ensuring client satisfaction through health and safety performance

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Abstract

Studies have proven that client satisfaction (CS) is greatly affected by the nature of construction practices on site. However, not much attention has been given to CS in projects that adopt green construction practices (GCPs). This study examines the effect of GCPs on CS, and the means by which CS can be achieved through health and safety performance (HSP). This study also analyses how the relationship between HSP and CS could vary depending on the level of GCPs adopted. A questionnaire with 27 items drawn from literature was used in collecting data from class A contractors in Nigeria. The study’s hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique. The findings of the study reveal that GCPs have a positive effect on CS. HSP proved to only partially mediate the relationship between GCPs and CS. The findings also show that the effect of HSP on CS is moderated by GCPs with the stronger effect from projects with low adoption of GCPs. The study’s findings highlight the pivotal role of HSP in ensuring CS in construction projects that adopt GCPs. This study makes practical contributions to the body of existing knowledge by highlighting the need for concerted efforts by contractors such as investing in health and safety training and ensuring site workers wear personal protective equipment aimed at adhering to acceptable health and safety standards. This can be achieved through provision of funds for safety activities, monitoring, and supervision of workers to guarantee HSP which translates to CS while adopting GCPs. However, the obstacles to these are the lack of safety culture by construction organizations, lack of enlightenment on the part of construction site workers, and poor safety climate on the construction project site. Additionally, the study provides greater insight on the practice of green construction among contractors by showing that the effect of HSP on CS would differ considerably on account of the level of GCPs adopted.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

    Hilary Omatule Onubi, Nor’Aini Yusof & Ahmad Sanusi Hassan

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  1. Hilary Omatule Onubi
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  2. Nor’Aini Yusof
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  3. Ahmad Sanusi Hassan
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by HOO, NY, and ASH. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HOO, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hilary Omatule Onubi.

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This study involved human participants. Ethics approval was granted by the Ethics Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects, Universiti Sains Malaysia (JEPeMUSM), with study protocol code USM/JEPeM/18090438 on 9 May 2019.

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Onubi, .O., Yusof, N. & Hassan, A.S. Green construction practices: ensuring client satisfaction through health and safety performance. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 5431–5444 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15705-5

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