Construction Workers Prompted to Address Mental Health

Following a charity’s declaration of a mental health crisis within the building industry, construction workers are being prompted to discuss their challenges. Lighthouse, a charity that offers support to workers and their families, is implementing three mental health workshops at various building sites throughout Norfolk from Wednesday to Friday. The national charity reported that two “tradies” die by suicide every working day in the UK and Ireland, and it had already received an unprecedented volume of calls for assistance this winter. Stu Burman, founder of the Man Cave mental health support group and a resident of Gorleston-on-Sea, stated, “It’s a real, real shame as there are so many guys who are literally ticking timebombs.” He added, “Men don’t want to talk about their feelings, they just keep it under their hard hats, but talking saves lives.” Burman further commented, “You have a bit of banter on site with the lads but there is never any talking about thoughts or feelings.” Mr. Burman, whose online “brotherhood” facilitates open communication among thousands of men, emphasized that further efforts are required to expedite access to necessary assistance. He elaborated, “I had to be at the stage where it nearly cost me my life before I got any help, I faced the demons on my own – that’s how broken the system is.” Burman also noted, “We’re finding people getting on a six to 12 month waiting list for therapies and just being medicated, so they are just flat-lining through life.” Michael Saunders, operations manager at Lovell Homes, which is constructing residences in King’s Lynn in partnership with the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, stated that the industry is progressing in offering enhanced support for its workforce. He remarked, “If we go back 20-30 years, the industry was much more about toughening up and getting on with it and people were taught to keep their mouth shut.” Saunders continued, “But we are a lot softer around the edges now and there is a lot more focus on people and sites are far, far better than they used to be in terms of safety and welfare.” He concluded, “There’s always room for improvement but the steps the industry has made has been really good and we have some really good support systems.” Lighthouse is scheduled to conduct mental health workshops at Bateman Groundworks in Hethersett and Postwick, in addition to one at Hitachi Construction Machinery in Norwich. Sarah Bolton, chief executive of the charity, explained, “Tradespeople are most self-employed, so there’s no consistency, no continuity of salaries, and it can be feast or famine.” She continued, “So that, on top of general everyday life problems and the adverse weather, can be a bit of a perfect recipe [for disaster].” Bolton added, “We are very busy and seeing record numbers [of calls] so far over November and December but we are doing our very best to support.”