MENTAL HEALTH & STRESS TAKING POSITIVE ACTION Mental health has become a hot topic in the construction sector. We
hear from Mike Wright, Health & Safety Manager at scaffolding specialist, Millcroft, on the practical steps the company has taken to dispel stigma and encourage conversation.
“In the scaffolding sector where working at height and carrying heavy equipment on a busy building site are routine workplace hazards, we put a huge emphasis on health and safety,” explains Millcroft’s Health & Safety Manager, Mike Wright. “Both as part of our training programmes and in how we manage workplace behaviours day-to-day.
“Like a lot of companies, however, our attention has been heavily focused on safety rather than health and it was clear that Millcroft’s responsibility to ensure that every member of the team gets home safe needed to cover both. Introducing mental health training is a key initiative in delivering that commitment and ensuring we support our colleagues, clients and delivery partners in remaining safe and safeguarding both their own wellbeing and that of those around them.”
The impact of poor mental health and the significant proportion of the UK population that will be affected by mental health issues at some point in their lifetime has gained widespread media attention over the past few years. This has been echoed by campaigns across the construction industry, due to the combination of high rates of poor mental health in the sector and the traditionally taboo nature of the topic amongst its male-dominated workforce.
“In the construction sector, two workers take their own life every week,” Mike continues, “and construction professionals put their lives at risk every day by working in hazardous site conditions while concealing issues with depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions.
“In a very male-oriented industry, there is a deeply embedded culture of brushing any talk of mental health issues under the carpet, and many may even exacerbate the problem by using drink or drugs to mask their symptoms. A lot is being done to dispel the stigma but, at Millcroft, we decided it was time to take some action to inform and support our own team by developing a mental health training programme and appointing mental health champions within the business.”
TRIGGERS FOR POOR MENTAL HEALTH Mike is very open about the catalyst that triggered him to propose a dedicated mental health training course at Millcroft to complement the wide- ranging health & safety training already delivered at the company’s in-house training centre for staff and customers. The proposal was embraced wholeheartedly by the company’s leadership team, who decided that every member of staff
20
should receive the training, including office-based personnel and directors.
“Like most people, I never expected poor mental health to affect me,” says Mike. “I’ve worked in the construction sector all my life where it’s never really been a topic of conversation. I’d always coped well with stress, loved my job and had a happy home life, so I’d never questioned my ability to handle whatever life threw at me.
“But then it threw cancer at me. When my wife became ill, suddenly the day-to-day pressures of life and the workplace were huge sources of stress and anxiety and things that I’d coped with fine all my life were making me depressed and anxious.
“And I wasn’t the only one affected by what was happening in our family. I saw my wife’s mental health suffer along with her physical health as she struggled to cope with the impact of her illness.”
As a health and safety professional who had spent a lifetime delivering health and safety training to construction teams at every level, from site to boardroom, Mike realised from these personal experiences just how vulnerable anyone can be to poor mental health.
For Mike, the identifiable triggers and his professional background made it easier to recognise what was happening and seek help. However, he also realised that many people who suffer from poor mental health may not realise their health is deteriorating until their problems have become severe.
“Just like poor physical health, poor mental health can have a wide range of causes. There may be a particular trigger like there was for me but for many it simply evolves from the cumulative effect of years of small stresses and strains. Often people can’t articulate what they’re going through or seek help because it’s crept up on them by stealth so they just live with it, like an aching joint or a rotten tooth.”
SHARED EXPERIENCE The concept behind Millcroft’s health and safety training is that people will be better able to recognise the causes and symptoms of poor mental health in themselves or others if they have had an opportunity to discuss their own experience of mental health and shared the experience of others.
“The Millcroft mental health course takes place in a traditional training room setting,” explains Mike, “but it’s not all about me talking while the trainees take notes. We wanted to get away from a culture of people
www.tomorrowshs.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61
