Length of time spent working on a commercial construction site and the associations with worker characteristics

Background Construction workers move frequently from jobsite to jobsite, yet little is documented about length of stay on-site and associations with worker characteristics. Method Using cross-sectional data, we investigated associations between worker characteristics (including trade and musculoskeletal pain) and length of stay on-site (dichotomized as <1 month, n = 554, and ≥1month, n = 435). Results Approximately, 56% of workers remained on the worksite for at least 1 month. Length of stay was significantly associated with workers' race/ethnicity, union status, title, trade, and musculoskeletal pain (P-values < 0.05). Trades associated with longer length of stay included pipefitters and plumbers. Trades associated with shorter length of stay included operators and piledrivers. Workers with single-location pain had 2.21 times (95%CI: 1.52, 3.19) the odds of being short-term versus long-term, adjusting for trade, title, and race/ethnicity. Conclusion The length of stay and associated characteristics provide important insight into how workers come and go on construction sites and the methodological challenges associated with traditional intervention evaluations. Am. J. Ind. Med. 58:964–973, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.