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Article History

Received: 24 February 2025

Accepted: 5 January 2026

First Online: 20 January 2026

Declarations

:

: Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Department of Industrial Technical Education (ITE) Postgraduate Research Ethics Committee, on behalf of the College of Postgraduate Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria. The Committee reviewed and approved all the study procedures as it partly surveyed construction site workers (human participants) in accordance with the University of Nigeria Research Ethics Guideline and the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. The study, being an offshoot of a PhD research, was approved on 23rd May 2023, with the details covering the research instrument development, recruitment of participants, data collection, and data analysis procedures. The early part of the research involved a literature survey, writing of the overarching introduction, purposes, research questions, hypotheses, conceptual model specifications and general methodology. These early parts led to the proposal level of the study and subsequent application for ethical approval, which signaled the data collection stage. The authors hereby confirm that no part of the research deviated from the approved ethical conduct. As such, all participants were informed of the study’s purpose, assured confidentiality, and briefed that participation was entirely voluntary. Informed consent for participation was first obtained in written form from all participating Building Site Management Personnel, and secondly from Construction Site Workers, who were able to write, during the recruitment stage. Consent detailing was coordinated and collected at different locations by the authors and trained research assistants between June – September 2023. A detailed information sheet was read and explained to each gathering of participants, in the presence of the management team/foreman/ or site manager, explaining the purpose of the study, the rights of participants, and the procedures, involving filling of the questionnaire and interview, where necessary. Being a questionnaire-based, non-interventional data collection, all participants were informed that their participation was fully voluntary, involving no anticipated physical, legal or economic risks, and participation or non-participation would not affect their employment on the construction site. Lastly, participants were assured that responses would remain anonymous with no identifying information recorded, and would be used solely for academic research, reporting, and publication. This study required no guardian’s consent as all participants were above the age of 18. All participants confirmed their understanding of the consent information before signing the consent form.

: Not Applicable.

: Clinical Trial Number is not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.