Why Bring Mindfulness to the Construction Industry?

 The Construction Industry holds the possibility of preserving our history and innovating for our future - 

 it penetrates all aspects of our culture and forms the foundation for how we live, work and play.

But there is a silent crisis within our society,  mental health statistics are sobering and the construction industry has some of the worst statistics in the UK. 

 Did you know...

1.   

The Construction Industry has more suicides than any other industry   

In 2017, the Office for National Statistics produced its first report on suicide by occupation in England which revealed that the construction industry accounted for more suicides than any other industry -  with male construction workers being 2.7 times more likely to commit suicide than the average person.

 2. 

Almost half (48.3%) have taken time off work because of unmanageable stress and mental health issues. 

Construction News’ Mind Matters 2019 survey found that 3 out of 4 workers said long hours made the biggest difference to their wellbeing, followed by job uncertainty, tight deadlines, financial pressures, and working away from home. Almost half had taken time off work because of unmanageable stress and mental health issues, which had increased by 18% from the previous year.

3.   

Nearly a quarter (23%) of construction workers said they were considering exiting the industry within a year

A survey by Randstad in 2017 revealed that nearly a quarter of construction workers said they were considering exiting the industry within a year. The survey also found that 73% of respondents felt their employers did not recognise the early signs of mental health problems, and many experienced high levels of stress and difficulties striking a healthy work/life balance.

4. 

In October 2019, the Chartered Institute of Building conducted a survey to better understand the mental health of individuals in the construction industry. The survey ran for one month and received 2,081 responses. The key findings were that: 

- 87% 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   

  Industry has recognised that the Mental Health and Wellbeing of employees needs to be at the forefront of the agenda.

Professional Bodies within the industry have provided numerous resources to support Mental Health and Wellbeing including research papers, blogs, webinars, podcasts, and CPDs to advise on how improvements can be implemented. 

Leadership Groups have also formed in response to the Health and Safety Executive’s challenge to do more, to tackle the issues of Health and act as a catalyst to help unify the industry in its approach and implementation of best practice processes and initiatives. 

Many organisations have begun to respond to the findings of recent studies by employing strategies to work towards a healthy workforce, although this list is not exhaustive, typical support initiatives include: 

•Mental Health Policies  

•Training staff as Mental Health First Aiders. 

•Mental health awareness talks, workshops and support systems  

•Mental Health and wellbeing Toolkits 

•Discounted membership to the gym / yoga / pilates classes

 •Access to app support and helplines including counselling  

There are also various charities who are supporting the mental health agenda within the construction industry, including but not limited to :

• Mates in Mind

• Lighthouse Club

• Band of Builders

• Crash

• CIOB Assist 

•ICE Benevolent Fund

•Architects Benevolent Society 

Access to Mindfulness programmes is limited, although there are offers to mindfulness tools and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) sessions via some charities specific to the Construction Industry as well as the general population. 

However, there is a recognition that more needs to be done and that whilst some progress has been made, the industry still has a long way to go in creating a positive wellbeing culture, destigmatising mental health at work and supporting wellbeing. 

Detailed below are some of the objectives and recommendations shared by Industry Professional Bodies and Leadership Groups which demonstrates that MBCT-L  can act as a response to the call for industry to do more: 

1. 

Chartered Institute of Building  

recommendations noted in  Understanding Mental Health in the Built Environment - Research Paper 2020 

For Industry:

• Ensure employees have access to high-quality mental health support and training

• Offer stress reduction approaches for employees, and take steps – where  possible – to reduce stressful situations

• Develop stress mitigation solutions that employees can access, to help them cope with stressful situations. Proven approaches include mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

• Larger businesses should look at how they can support both their supply chain and the smaller businesses with whom they work. This will help provide full coverage on worksites and foster a more coherent system for mental health support.

2. 

Construction Industry Training Board  

recommendation noted in   

Safety, health, environment and wellbeing (SHEW) operational policy

• A holistic approach to ensuring good health and wellbeing provision to all employees to improve their physical and mental health, wellbeing and work-life balance

•Programme  of  health  and  wellbeing  activities  and  interventions  to  support  all employees

3.

  Association for Project Management 

recommendation noted in   

The wellbeing of project professionals - APM Research Fund - Sept 2019  

• Learn the signs of adverse stress reactions: physical, emotional and mental; 

• actively manage encounter and anticipatory stressors that arise

• Consider re-evaluating how you think about stress. 

4. 

Health in Construction Leadership Group

 recommendation noted in   

Health in Construction Leadership Group Strategic review 2022 - 2025

• To develop and support the development of education programmes and increased awareness of health issues and programmes to enable the construction industry to treat health like safety. 

 • To engage with other industries to identify and share innovation and non-construction industry sector approaches

5. 

  Institute of Civil Engineers 

recommendation noted in   

Mental health resilience: the scaffolding of life – blog - May 2023  

Tools to support mental health resilience

Mind tools: From cognitive behavioural techniques to acceptance and commitment therapy, from meditation to mindfulness

6. 

  Royal Institute of British Architects

 recommendation noted in 

ARCHITECTS’ MENTAL WELLBEING TOOLKIT

Offer activities such as yoga and mindfulness that people with a range of physical abilities can participate in, and are shown to have huge impacts on mental wellbeing, creativity and focus