Building towards better mental health in the construction industry

Since we launched our report, Understanding Mental Health in the Built Environment, in May 2020, the CIOB and its policy and public affairs team have been busy campaigning to raise awareness of poor mental health in construction.

The report, which surveyed over 2,000 people across the globe, presented harrowing statistics of high numbers of workers experiencing extreme levels of stress over a prolonged period, witha large number of people reporting that they had considered taking their own life in 2019. Since May 2020, we have been working closely with mental health organisations, the construction industry and the UK government to raise awareness and implement the recommendations we set out within the report.

Creating change

Our in-house policy and public affairs team have succeeded in raising the profile of this issue amongst MPs, with many backing our calls for parity of esteem for mental health.

Our report has been mentioned both in the House of Lords and the House of Commons and the Government have taken note of the recommendations we laid out. The Shadow Minister for Mental Health Rosena Allin-Khan tweeted about the findings of the report and Senior MPs have also discussed the findings in news outlets such as The House, Parliament’s in-house magazine.

As a professional body, internally we have implemented Mental Health First Aiders to reduce the stigma of talking about mental health problems with staff, but also amongst those in the construction industry. In 2019, we announced our partnership with Anxiety UK to provide 1 to 1 support through our benevolent fund for people who are seeking help. We have also created further partnerships with other mental health organisations both in the UK and in Ireland and on the back of our report we have been invited to sit on the European Union’s Horizon 2020 project – Mental Health Promotion and Intervention in Occupational Settings (MINDUP). This project specifically targets SMEs in the construction sector and will involve developing tools to combat mental health issues faced by those working in the industry.

We know that more needs to be done for the construction industry and our report made it clear that many people in the sector have had little to no training in mental health and wellbeing. The CIOB Academy currently has a large library of CPD on key areas for the sector, including mental health and wellbeing. The latest course, due to launch on 12 October, will be a 3-week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Mental Health in Construction which will be available for all of those in construction to access at any time they like. The course aims to provide people with an understanding of the basics of what mental health is, how to spot the signs and symptoms of poor mental health and, most importantly, how to manage it.

On 17 November2020, we will be partnering with Mental Health First Aid England to produce a webinar around managing metnal health and wellbeing in the construction industry. 

As we navigate through the new challenges brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, focusing on mental health and wellbeing has become even more important. Going forwards we will be greating a dedicated campaign page to keep our members up-to-date on the latest work on this issue so keep your eyes peeled!