Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward COVID-19 Among Construction Industry Practitioners in China.

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has put labor-intensive industries at risk, among which the construction industry is a typical one. Practitioners in the construction industry are facing high probabilities of COVID-19 transmission, while their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) are critical to the prevention of virus spread. This study seeks to investigate the KAP of construction industry practitioners in China through an online questionnaire survey conducted from 15 to 30 June 2020. A total of 702 effective responses were received and analyzed. The results revealed that (1) although an overwhelming percentage of respondents had the correct knowledge about COVID-19, there were significant respondents (15% of all) who were unsure or wrong about the human-to-human transmission of the virus; (2) practitioners generally showed an optimistic attitude about winning the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and were satisfied with the governments' contingency measures; (3) practitioners tended to actively take preventive measures, although checking body temperature, wearing face masks, and keeping safe social distance still needs to be reinforced. This research is among the first to identify the KAP of construction industry practitioners toward the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Results presented here have implications for enhancing strategies to reduce and prevent COVID-19 spread in the construction industry.