The objective of this study is to investigate whether work fatigue and physiological symptoms that highelevation
construction workers experience would be affected by the occupations. Questionnaires of
demographic data and subjective fatigue symptoms as well as some physiological measurements were
carried out, pre- and post-shift, on scaffolders, steel fixers, formworkers, electrician-plumbers, concreters
and miscellaneous workers at a high-rise building construction site. This study found that some subjective
fatigue symptoms coincide with the life style of some workers and that the extent of fatigue
symptoms and physiological strains varies among different occupations of construction workers. Scaffolders,
steel fixers and formworkers are categorized as physically demanding fatigue type of workers,
while concreters, electrician-plumbers and miscellaneous workers as general type. The prevalence and
occurrence of subjective fatigue symptoms indicate high-elevation workers have more complaints of
‘‘projection of physical impairment’’ than ‘‘drowsiness and dullness’’ and ‘‘difficulty in concentration’’.
Some unexpected changes (i.e., post-shift measurements are greater than pre-shift ones) in some
strength tests in scaffolders and concreters were consistent with the observations of how they exercised
their bodies during work shift. Considerable variation of average heart rate among occupations was
found, with scaffolders the highest and concreters the lowest. This study concludes that questionnaires
of subjective fatigue symptoms and some physiological measurements can be used as indicators to
predict the extent of strains or hazards which construction workers encounter. In terms of management
program of safety and health, more attention should be paid to those physically demanding workers,
such as scaffolders, workers with lower sense of safety and health, such as miscellaneous workers, and
workers with older age, such as concreters.