Craig Sanders, joint managing director of Protrade, explores the topic of mental health in the construction industry, startling suicide statistics, and discusses the Lighthouse Club’s new ‘Help Inside The Hard Hat’ initiative
Ignore gross headlines. Mental health in the construction industry is a serious issue and needs to be talked out far more. In June, you may recall that The Daily Mail ran a particular story about a ‘study’ on the state of mental health in the construction industry. The leading headline for that piece was ‘UK builders go WOKE’.
There’s a reason it has been widely criticised. It’s an insulting and gross headline, a story about an outdated stereotype that totally talks about a serious issue in a playful manner.
Mental health is spoken about so much across so many areas, but what’s the reality within what is one of the country’s most important and demanding sectors?
According to the Lighthouse Club, a UK-based charity that provides financial and emotional support to construction workers dealing with mental and other health issues, it’s estimated that two construction workers take their own lives every working day in the UK.
Last year, it was reported by Essential Site Skills that the construction industry has the highest level of death rate, making up for nearly 27% of the total workplace deaths – a figure that is three times higher than the national average for male workers.
While we could go on and on about the facts, these are both startling and devastating – a reality that deserves more than playful headlines. This is what matters and is what isn’t talked about enough.
This isn’t about being Woke. It’s about creating awareness around the serious issue of suicide
You’ve seen the headline that The Daily Mail ran. Below is a line from that same article.
Modern tradesmen are sensitive souls more likely to enjoy yoga, muesli, listening to Radio 4 and sharing their feelings, a survey has found.
Instead, let’s look at the reality of the industry.
A lot of our customers are one-man bands, tradespeople that often work long hours away from their homes and families, are running a business single-handedly, chasing payments, managing contracts, and are constantly battling tight deadlines.
It’s an incredibly isolating and lonely job and, as a result, it’s those same people that don’t have anyone they can turn to.
I’ve talked a lot internally and with customers in the industry about these issues and what’s clear to me is that everyone seems to know someone that has taken their own life.
Maybe that resonates with you, too. From my own experience, many years ago, I worked on the trade counter and knew a guy that was a regular – a lovely guy, with a great family – and I was shocked to find out that he had taken his own life two years ago.
No one knew what he was going through or that he was struggling. That stays with you and more needs to be done raise awareness of these issues within the industry.
Invaluable charities like Lighthouse Club need to be embraced far more
I’ll be frank. I have worked in the construction industry, it wasn’t until earlier this year that I was aware of the Lighthouse Club and the amazing, invaluable, work they do.
If that’s the case for me, how many more people find themselves in the same boat?
The Lighthouse Club don’t just work with mental health. They’re involved across a number of wellness areas within the construction sector, including financial which has become prevalent in recent years with everything that is happening.
They have recently launched their ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat’ campaign to raise awareness of poor mental health in the construction industry. Its main aim is to provide a huge range of proactive support and resources, including our 24/7 Construction Industry Helpline, a free app and mental health training.
It’s a campaign that I would urge every other business to raise awareness of and get behind because the reality is that by doing so, you may be reaching someone that might just need their help.
We all have a responsibility to look out for each other
Since becoming more aware of the Lighthouse Club, the discussion around mental health is something we have only embraced more.
Some businesses go down the route of employing mental health first-aiders. It’s not a route we will be going down, though. That responsibility of being mental health aware shouldn’t rest on the shoulders of a designated group of people.
There’s an onus on all of us. We all have a responsibility to look after one another and have each other’s backs. We should care about the people that we’re spending our time with. And we’re committed to having proper conversations with our staff and our customers within the industry. Only by doing that can our industry break down the barriers that have been around it for far too long.
It’s not about being Woke. It’s about being human.
