The theme of the 7th CIB President’s Seminar Series is “The impact of research in the built environment sector”, and we have secured speakers from leading CIB members who are delivering significant impact through their research. Seminars from the previous series can be viewed here.
The impact of research in the construction and built environment sector is most critical in addressing the “triple bottom line” of sustainability, safety, and economic efficiency. Ultimately, impactful research bridges the gap between academic theory and sector application, whether through improving practice or policy, ensuring that every structure contributes to a safer, smarter, and more sustainable future. This builds on CIB’s existing emphasis on contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and on research that benefits society.
Rethinking Mental Health in Construction Through Prefabrication
June 2nd 2026 8.00 pm Melbourne (GMT+10)
Mental health remains one of construction’s most persistent challenges globally, with workers facing significantly higher rates of suicide, depression, anxiety, and burnout than other industries. Excessive demands, transient working conditions, and a strong masculine culture that discourages help-seeking have all been recognised as key contributors to poor mental health in construction. As construction advances into the Construction 4.0 era, modern methods like prefabrication are increasingly adopted for productivity and safety — but do they improve workforce mental health, and if so, how?
Drawing on comparative ethnographic research across traditional and prefabricated construction environments in Melbourne, Australia, this presentation examines how different approaches to construction work shape psychosocial hazards, masculine norms, and coping behaviours — offering new insights toward psychologically sustainable workplaces.
Speaker
Dr Huey Wen Lim is a Research Fellow at the School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, and a member of the research team at the Safety and Health Innovation Network (SHINe). With an interdisciplinary background in Psychology and Engineering, her research focuses on human factors in construction safety, health, and wellbeing. She collaborates with construction organisations across sectors, examining mental health, psychosocial hazards, masculine norms, safety leadership, safety culture, and decluttering safety management systems. Previously a McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne, she led industry-collaborative mental health research. Her work earned the 2023 CIB Keith Hampson Early Career Researcher Industry Award.
