Helen Lingard

Role and Background

Helen Lingard serves as RMIT Distinguished Professor in the School of Property, Construction, and Project Management at RMIT University, Australia. She joined the Myers-Lawson School of Construction as an Affiliated Faculty in 2024.

Lingard's research focuses on construction workers' health, safety, and well-being. In her current research, she is exploring organizational challenges and construction worker safety within multi-level subcontracting, the effects of workplace social environments on the health, safety, and well-being of young construction workers, and the positive impact of a respectful and supportive work environment on the mental health of construction workers.

Her research has been funded by a wide variety of private and public sector organizations, industry associations, and trade unions. In 2009, she was an inaugural recipient of a prestigious Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, and her recent book, Work Health and Wellbeing in the Construction Industry, was published by Routledge in 2023.

Since 2018, Lingard has been the academic lead and member of the Culture in Construction Taskforce, comprising the Australian Constructors Association and the governments of New South Wales and Victoria. The task force was established to address three key issues affecting the productivity of the Australian construction industry: gender diversity, health and well-being, and work-life balance. She leads the Construction Work Health and Safety Research at RMIT group.

Education

Lingard holds a Ph.D. in Construction Safety from The University of Hong Kong and a B.A. in Politics from The University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety.