One in 10 construction workers in the south west admit to poor mental health

Constructing Excellence South West (CESW), a member led organisation designed to drive change in construction, has explored the current state of construction worker’s overall wellbeing for the first time.

CESW partnered with Red Dot 365 and found 10% of construction workers rate their mental and personal wellbeing as poor. This is two and a half times more than the national average (3.5%) which highlights how mental health is a huge challenge in the sector.

The study also uncovered that stress is a big concern as almost two thirds (62%) of workers admitted to feeling stressed and 57% shared they were looking to find a way to feel less stressed day-to-day.

The results of the investigation follow the launch of the first ever mental and physical wellbeing dashboard for the construction industry designed by CESW and Red Dot 365. The platform gives organisations insight into their employees perceived mental health and wellbeing which, in turn, helps create in-depth solutions to tackle the issues through management courses or individual coaching programmes.

Andrew Carpenter, CEO of CESW said: “We wanted to get a better insight into the size of the mental wellbeing challenge and the common themes running through the industry and there have been some really interesting stats from it.

“Thanks to our collaboration with Red Dot 365, we found that 10% of workers rated their mental and personal wellbeing as poor which could be down to poor working conditions, the macho nature of the sector to just ‘man up and get on with it,’ a low paid environment, or the culture of working long hours, often away from family, which can have a massive effect on home life.

“The main challenge is to get a gauge of what is required from the people on the front line, bring attention to this, and then shape the right solutions to help and start affecting government policy and working environment.”