Let’s all sign up to help stop suicide

Ian Weinfass is Deputy Editor of Construction News

We’ve been looking ahead to the next 12 months in recent days on CN with our people, companies and projects to watch for in 2023.

I’m also going to go out on a limb and predict the following for 2023: there will be at least one new construction minister, public-spending constraints will result in a few MPs calling for HS2 to be scrapped, and building firms will get by on small margins.

Some things are easy to predict because they happen all the time. Others, like a war in eastern Europe hitting the UK economy, come out of nowhere.

There are also things that are predictable, but are not easy to predict, because they are horrible, and we need them to change.

The construction industry’s performance on mental health is in this category, and tragically, it seems to be getting worse.

An analysis of official data from the Office for National Statistics by Glasgow Caledonian University’s Professor Billy Hare, the foremost expert on the subject, has found that the number of workers taking their own lives has increased.

According to data for the latest available year, there were 507 suicides in 2021 – marking a rise of 25 on the five-year average.

That’s 507 individuals leaving behind their families, friends, loved ones and futures.

The rate of construction suicides now stands at nearly four times that of other industries.

Positive words on the subject from employers, of which we have seen a welcome increase in recent years, are clearly not having enough of an impact.

Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity, issued a stark and clear message backing up what the statistics show: while huge strides have been made, “our messages of support are not reaching the boots on the ground”.

Lighthouse, alongside fellow charity Mates in Mind, are now working on behalf of the Construction Leadership Council on a major project called Make it Visible to try to improve wellbeing in the industry.

Alongside others including the Construction Industry Training Board, Health and Safety Executive and a number of trade bodies, they aim to devise a plan including key deliverables and measurement to drive change in the wellbeing of the workforce – and ultimately reduce the number of suicides in the industry.

As recent history shows, this is a herculean task. But it is a vital one.

The groups are inviting everyone who has responsibility for workforce wellbeing to sign up to join the launch presentation of Make it Visible, where attendees will be able to vote on the direction that national strategies on proactive and reactive wellbeing, as well as culture and measuring impact, should take.

The online event takes place on 24 January at 1pm. For more information click here.

If everyone reading this gets behind the initiative and gets involved, maybe we can start reaching the boots on the ground, and turn the trend in the right direction.

• If you or someone you know is struggling and needs help, call the Lighthouse construction industry helpline on 03456 051956 in the UK, or 1800 939 122 in the Republic of Ireland. Or call the Samaritans on 166 123.