Inaugural construction mental health summit commits to boosting sector wellbeing

MADWORLD-2024-94

The aim of the inaugural Construction Summit at last week’s MAD World Festival of Workplace Culture, Employee Health and Wellbeing, was to bring together sector leaders to facilitate collaboration and innovation, amplifying initiatives designed to build positive mental health for workers in construction – a sector that has a reputation that is less than positive on mental health.

The Summit drew together diverse voices from across construction, and beyond, to discuss the key issues facing the sector, with a particular focus on improving the impact of work to support the mental health of workers.

Panellists shared examples of how organisations can embed preventative and proactive approaches, with a goal of ensuring that no-one reaches crisis point and talking about mental health becomes normalised.

Lessons from the leaders

The Summit, whose focus was ‘Building better mental health and wellbeing across construction’s workforces’, was a partnership between MAD World (leaders in employee mental health and wellbeing events since 2018) and Mates in Mind (a mental health charity focusing on construction, transport and logistics and related sectors).

One delegate wrote, “So inspiring to be in the same room as so many people committed to making positive change to improve the mental health & wellbeing of people in the construction industry. Thank you Sam Downie and all the team at Mates in Mind for creating a space for such open dialogue and sharing of best practice.”

The Summit, which took place in London on 17 October, included a list of highly respected speakers from across the construction sector and mental health.

Key takeaways

During the Summit, Anne Hayes (Director of Sectors and Standards Development, BSI) talked about the new standard relating to suicide prevention that they are developing.

New research on how large construction companies can best support their supply chains was introduced by the lead researcher Professor Carla Toro (Associate Professor, Warwick University), who was joined on the panel by some of the organisations who are sponsoring the research, including Balfour Beatty, Sir Robert McAlpine, The Crown Estate, Mace and the Department for Business and Trade. 

Jim Beestone (Health, Safety & Wellbeing Project Manager, Balfour Beatty) commented on his highlights from fellow panellists, “The first was by David Bucksley: “we will only succeed in tackling mental ill health if we leave ego at the door”. He was bang on the money. In a world of competing initiatives, of personal biases, beliefs, and lived experiences, it’s vital to understand that none of us has the solution on our own, and that it will take a concerted effort by us all to move the dial in the industry.

The second was by Kari Sprostranova – “It isn’t enough to raise awareness anymore”. She was equally spot-on.” He continued, “The problem is not that we’ve not had an impact, it’s that the impact isn’t going far enough fast enough to make the sort of change we need to see. And the change we need to see isn’t a change in how we tackle mental health, it’s a change in the way we do business as an industry.”

Steve Hails (Director of Business Services and HSW, Tideway) who participated in the panel on what excellent organisational mental wellbeing looks like, shared that: “I’ve been quoted many times in the past saying that for too long we’ve whispered ‘Health’ and shouted ‘Safety’ and we need to see much more parity between the two. Also, we need to hit home that this is also about improving productivity and adding to the bottom line; if you’ve got a happier workforce, you’ve got a more productive and efficient one too.”

Reflecting on the day, Marc Preston (CEO Vertice Development Management and New Foundation Counselling) said, “The Summit brought together some of the foremost industry thought leaders tasked with paving the way for improved mental health in construction. There is still a long way to go, but resulting from the successful summit, the retrospective reviews of the past, can more readily morph into an agenda for action for specific change.”

Insights into action

Each panel discussion included the sharing of insights, expertise, personal experiences, best practice and practical tips that the delegates could implement within their own organisations.

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In her closing speech, Sam Downie (Managing Director, Mates in Mind) called on those attending to commit to collaboration on the shared goal of making working in construction good for workers. Looking ahead to the future of work, Sam highlighted some of the challenges facing the sector in attracting and retaining new workers, as well as supporting current workers, that are going to require sector-wide change. Reminding all that Mates in Mind have set out an ambitious strategy to take a leading role in delivering those initiatives over the next three years.

“We knew that by joining up with MAD World, we could reach more organisations, and individuals. Working together with organisations we can build positive mental health in and through work, therefore creating a more mentally resilient sector with the aim of preventing anyone else from reaching the point of crisis. We hope that the delegates found the sessions informative, and they left with energy and examples to create environments for positive mental health within their own organisations, as well as their supply chains.” Sam Downie (Managing Director, Mates in Mind).

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