World Mental Health Day 2024 - Mental Health In The Workplace

As World Mental Health Day 2024 marks the theme of ‘mental health in the workplace’, PBC investigates mental health in construction and why there are so many issues

Today marks World Mental Health Day 2024, and this year the focus is on mental health in the workplace.

In this theme, PBC looks into why poor mental health rates are so high in the built environment, and what can be done to help alleviate these issues.

83% of construction workers have struggled with mental health issues

Mental health issues in the construction industry are among the highest in the world, with a 2020 survey by CIRP showed that 83% of construction workers have faced mental health issues related to work.

In the same year, a further study by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) showed that:

• 87% of UK construction workers experienced anxiety
• 70% experienced depression
• 97% experienced stress
• 96% experienced fatigue
• 95% experienced poor concentration
• 91% felt overwhelmed
• 86% experienced a lack of self-confidence
• 26% had suicidal thoughts

Needless to say that these are extraordinarily high levels of mental health issues, the sort that World Mental Health Day 2024 is designed to bring awareness to.

Unfortunately, the trend has not changed much. In 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the suicide rates for construction, according to the Office for National Statistics, stayed at 34 per 100,000, with 507 construction workers taking their own life that year – nearly 10 per week.

This statistic means that construction workers are roughly 10 times more likely to take their own life than to die in a workplace accident.

Of course, suicide is not the only negative effect of mental health, with reductions in concentration levels posing dangers while operating dangerous machinery, increasing likelihood of on-site accidents and injuries.

Not to mention further issues that can be caused in workers personal lives, and the effects this can have on project delivery and efficiency.

While issues will affect construction workers regardless of gender, women can also face unique challenges adding to their stress, including feeling isolated as a minority in a male-dominated industry, gender-related verbal or sexual harassment, unequal remuneration, and limited prospects for career advancement.

What causes mental health issues for construction workers?

The above CIOB report also investigated the issues cited by construction workers as causing stress, anxiety, etc.:

• 71% of manual workers found the lack of adequate toilet facilities stressful
• 80% found noise levels stressful
• 79% found inadequate temperature control stressful
• 67% found the uncertainty of working location stressful
• 92% experienced stress due to unrealistic deadlines
• 94% experienced stress due to time pressures
• 93% experienced stress due to having too much work to do
• 86% of senior-level staff experienced stress due to cost pressures
• 84% found the lack of involvement in decisions caused them stress

While all of these are high numbers, the most stressful seem to be related to workload and hours. More recent research supports this, with further stressors adding to the load being extended periods of time away from family and friends, as well as job security with issues including end of season layoffs and high competition.

Taking these in together, it’s not difficult to imagine many work locations in the built environment being stressful and often distressing work environments.

World Mental Health Day 2024 asks: what can be done to help?

While there has been some progress in this area, it is not yet enough.

The same CIOB study showed that:

• 38% of construction workers said their business offered helplines
• 35% said their business offered Mental Health First Aiders
• 5% offered fatigue management plans
• 31% of people said their employer would treat a mental health issue extremely seriously
• 71% responded they had no formal training over the past three years for mental health
• 56% said their business had a policy in place for mental health

These numbers are telling, in that not enough is being done to alleviate the heavy mental health issues that construction workers in the UK are facing.

Organisations such as Mates in Mind, and Band of Builders are fighting to not only bring more awareness to, but also to get more done to tackle these issues, with fundraisers and events, such as the Band of Builders’ Big Brew helping to open the dialogue on these issues.