The new toolkit is online at the Mental Health at Work website. This UK-wide initiative allows all types of employers and employees to access free tools, advice and information — all in one place.
The construction toolkit includes resources from a range of expert organisations. The resources include tips on how to start the conversation on mental health, mental health first aid training and five steps to building a positive and supportive culture in construction. Mind invited colleagues from Building Mental Health to put together this toolkit of resources.
Faye McGuinness, Head of Workplace Wellbeing Programmes at Mind, said: “We are pleased to launch this sector specific toolkit to the construction industry, in partnership with Building Mental Health. It brings together resources from a range of expert organisations, many of which are free.
“We know that suicide rates are a much larger cause of death than falls from a height in the construction industry. We hope this toolkit encourages people to open up the conversation on mental health in construction and to utilise the resources to help them get started.”
Emily Garnett, 30 from London, works at Morgan Sindall — a leading UK construction and infrastructure company. Emily, who has generalised anxiety and was diagnosed with depression in 2017, said: “It’s great to see a toolkit specifically designed for the construction industry. Over the past few years I have seen the positive changes within the industry towards health and wellbeing, although I believe there is still a long way to go, particularly in the construction industry where suicide rates are the highest of any sector.
“We will all experience mental illness directly or indirectly at some point in our lives, so the more we seek help and talk about it the better.”
This website brings together information, advice, resources and training that workplaces can use to improve wellbeing and give employees the mental health support they need. Mind with support from The Royal Foundation, Heads Together and 11 other organisations, has created the free Mental Health at Work website.
A major study into workplace wellbeing by the mental health charity Mind has revealed that poor mental health at work is widespread, with half (48%) of all people surveyed saying they have experienced a mental health problem in their current job.
The survey of more than 44,000 employees also revealed that only half of those who had experienced poor mental health had talked to their employer about it, suggesting that as many as one in four UK workers is struggling in silence.
Mind surveyed nearly 45,000 employees* and found that roughly three in five said their mental health was good or very good (58%), while 13% of respondents said that their mental health was currently poor or very poor. Of those who said their mental health was poor, 82% said that this was work-related — either due solely to problems at work, or a combination of problems at work and outside of work.
To access the construction toolkit visit: www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk/construction
*Research reference: Mind (2017/2018) 43,892 staff from across the 74 organisations taking part in Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Index shared their views and experiences through staff surveys.
