The Lighthouse construction industry charity has declared July as Talk to Us month to help raise awareness of the importance of talking about wellbeing issues with friends, colleagues and professionals to prevent situations from spiralling to crisis point.
Over 87% of the workforce are male which means they are less likely to talk about and share their problems, says the organisation, while long hours, tight deadlines and lack of job security can contribute significantly to poor mental health.
Bill Hill, the charity’s CEO of the Lighthouse Construction industry Charity said, “Last month, we saw a record 300 calls to our 24/7 construction industry helpline, but the positive message is that people are feeling more able to reach out and talk to someone.
“No problem is too large or too small and if they’re not comfortable with talking on the phone, they can use our text support service to chat. They can even visit one of our Lighthouse Beacons to meet and talk face to face in a safe environment.
Talking can make us feel vulnerable, but it shouldn’t be seen as a sign of weakness. We know that all the work we are doing, together with efforts of the industry is helping to reduce the stigma of talking about feelings and problems.”
The Construction News ‘Mind Matters’ survey published last week identified a significant shift in construction’s mental health journey due to a change in attitudes about talking openly. 53 per cent of survey respondents said that they felt comfortable talking about their mental health with colleagues, compared with 33 per cent in 2019.
The charity’s current campaign, ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat’ aims to raise awareness of all the support available to both companies and individuals and highlights the importance of reaching out.
The ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat’ campaign is also visiting construction sites and builders’ trade outlets across the country to meet and talk to the trades and raise awareness of the support available to them. The team are all fully trained mental health first aiders with first hand life experiences in construction, so are able to identify and relate easily with the issues being raised.
Find out more about the charity’s Talk to Us campaign
Read the full findings of the Construction News Mind matters survey
