How to Promote Mental Health and Well-being in the Construction Workplace

In this blog, we’ll look at how you can promote mental health and well-being in the construction workplace.

A productive workforce, great workmanship, and good safety record are what every project and site manager hopes to achieve.

However, this should never be at the cost of workers’ wellbeing or mental health.

Mental Health Statistics

It’s no surprise that the majority of construction workers on the tools are men - and the statistics show that they’re most at risk of poor mental health and reduced wellbeing.

• In the UK, mental health disorders are most common among men, with 1 in 8 suffering from conditions such as depression or anxiety.
• The UK suicide rate for men in 2019 was 16.9 in 100,000 (compared to 5.3 cases of female suicide per 100,000).
• Two men working in construction die by suicide every day
• 48% of construction workers take time off due to unmanageable stress levels
• 91% of construction workers feel overwhelmed and have suicidal thoughts
• A third of construction workers experience heightened anxiety levels every day
• 44% worry that their workload is too high

Source

A Stressful Industry?

There are many industries and work sectors that are likely to cause heightened stress and anxiety levels.

So, what’s different about the construction industry?

Is it any worse than others?

In many ways it is just as stressful as other work environments.

It can involve long working hours, working in poor conditions, and with co-workers who make life difficult.

The difference, however, is that the construction industry continues to be a difficult environment for men to be honest about how they’re feeling and speak up when it’s getting to be too much to handle.

Call it male bravado, disinclination to display weakness, or plain stubbornness - most construction workers will soldier on through their problems rather than face them or seek help.

Other workplaces such as timber processing and sawmills, manufacturing, civils, and the military have a similar mentality toward confronting mental health problems - so how can you promote better mental health and well-being in the workplace?

You Can Promote Mental Health and Well-being in the Construction Workplace

If you’re concerned about the mental health and well-being of your workforce, I have good news - there are lots of things that you can do about it!

Here’s our shortlist of best practices to make your construction site a happier place to be.

Raise awareness

A good way to combat the stigma around workplace mental health and well-being is to raise awareness, from the top of the company down.

You can conduct workshops, seminars or carry out training sessions aimed at educating your workers about the importance of mental health.

Train management too

Don’t forget about your leadership teams, including supervisors and managers.

Train them to recognise the signs of stress or mental health issues that may be visible within their teams.

The training should also guide leaders in how to support employees who may indeed be struggling.

Make sure your leadership teams commit to your mental health and well-being strategy and set an example by participating in the programmes and procedures you implement.

Mental Health First Aid England have a bank of approved trainers and courses are delivered online and in person.  Get more information here.

Access to support

 Make sure that employees have access to, and are aware of, mental health support services.

These may be public access, through the NHS or charities, or initiatives set up by the company; they often offer crisis helplines which may be the lifeline that an employee needs to get them through a particularly difficult time.

Work to Live

You can promote a healthy work-life balance among your workforce by setting reasonable hours of work, and minimising demands for overtime.

This may require a sacrifice in working output or creative thinking in order to meet the needs of the project, however, the result will be worth it.

You should also encourage your workers to take their breaks (rather than work through them) as well as fully use their annual holiday allowance.

Encourage Active Lifestyles

It’s well known that mental health and well-being are closely linked to physical activity levels and general fitness.

While working in construction can indeed be a physically demanding job, it doesn’t always result in improving state of mind - particularly in roles which are more sedentary, such as mobile plant operators, or where other factors increase stress levels such as tight deadlines or long working hours.

With this in mind, you could consider promoting regular exercise; encouraging healthy eating rather than use of energy drinks and junk food to get through each day can also improve your workers’ health and wellbeing.

Improve Health and Safety

If you were concerned about getting injured at work every day, or aware that your equipment wasn’t safe to use, you would probably end up becoming quite stressed - right?

Taking steps to make the workplace safer will help make your workers feel less at risk, raising their contentment levels.

Knowing that their employers are looking out for them will also increase their sense of value and esteem - resulting in increased morale and greater productivity as an added bonus.

Transparent Management

Make it easier for your construction workers to talk about their mental health and wellbeing by encouraging open and transparent communication throughout the site hierarchy.

Provide opportunities for open discussion as well as facilitate reporting of issues - either to do with the workplace or personal - through defined procedures.

Support Plans

Your workers, supervisors, and team leaders can all help each other to promote better mental health and well-being.

Consider implementing a peer support programme whereby more experienced workers can mentor or coach those who are struggling, as well as those who may be new to the site or industry (both are factors that can cause stress).

Similarly, you could try holding regular meetings on a one-to-one basis between employees and their line managers, in order to discuss their workload, challenges and job satisfaction openly and freely.

Return to Work

Coming back to work after a period of sickness absence due to mental health problems can be daunting, and stressful in itself.

Reduce this detrimental effect by developing a clear, personalised return-to-work plan for any employee who may require it, so that their transition back into the workplace will be a smooth one.

Monitoring

Whatever you do to promote better mental health and well-being at your construction site, keep a close eye on how it is progressing, how effective your programmes and strategies are, and how site morale fairs.

If you identify shortfalls, create plans to rectify them- however also make sure you celebrate any wins along the way.

Make a Difference with Majestic

Having a healthy workforce is paramount for any site manager who wants to keep their project on track and delivered within their deadlines - and this includes their mental health as well as physical.

If this sounds like a good idea to you, but you’re not sure whether you can promote mental health and wellbeing in the construction workplace alongside your other duties, give Majestic a call. We’ll be glad to help you achieve a happier and more productive workforce.