As well as adding a Legal Industry Summit, this year’s MAD World on 17th October is also hosting a Construction Summit, in partnership with charity Mates in Mind (if you haven’t got your ticket yet, you can register here and see the full agenda).
As Tideway’s Director of Business Services and HSW, Steve Hails (pictured), clearly explains in the interview below, there are certain characteristics of working in the construction industry that make mental health issues more of a risk. Hails, and other leading figures in the industry, are committing to addressing and overcoming these challenges, starting by sharing best practice at this summit where he is appearing on a panel entitled: what does excellent organisational mental wellbeing look like?
We caught up with him ahead of his appearance at MAD World.
This is the first time we’ve run a Construction Summit at MAD World. Why do you think it’s important that this industry gets a specific wellbeing focus?
Research that’s been undertaken over the last five years has really brought into sharp focus the reasons why construction has the highest suicide rate amongst industry, according to the Office of National Statistics. When they did the original research back in 2017, it showed that the rate of suicide within construction was almost four times higher than any other industry and we continue to have high levels of poor mental health.
We also know that the construction industry has challenges such as a reliance on alcohol and both prescription and non-prescription drugs. There are other challenges which affect mental health and wellbeing such as the fact it’s a transient workforce, there’s no real career path for many, it’s often difficult conditions and jobs often require time away from family and long hours.
Also, probably more than 80%, or even more, work for small and medium sized businesses, which generally don’t have access to the same resources that larger corporate organisations have.
Construction workers are predominantly male and stereotypically men find it harder to talk about mental health than women. Have you found that to be true?
We’ve definitely seen a positive change in the last five to ten years, on major construction programmes in particular.
In my company, for example, Tideway, we’ve been encouraged to see that almost 80% of people who responded to our last health, safety and wellbeing survey said they would be comfortable talking to their manager about a mental health issue.
A decade ago, you would never have had conversations around mental health and wellbeing in the construction industry. It just wouldn’t have happened. It was seen as a weakness.
But it’s actually seen as quite the opposite now. Showing vulnerability is seen as a strength to your leadership and your authenticity, which is something I’ve experienced when standing up in front of people at work and talking openly about my own mental health challenges.
But this destigmatisation is not across the board. It’s generally only on major programmes. There is still a stigma outwith these programmes.
You said you saw an improvement in your survey feedback. Is there anything in particular you’ve done that you think led to that?
Part of it is addressing the stigma. We’ve had several examples of individuals who’ve spoken openly about the challenges that they’ve had and the support that they subsequently received.
We’ve been business champions of Mates in Mind since its formation eight years ago, and we’ve rolled out training packages on starting the conversation and managing the conversation. Again, this is all about normalising mental health and creating a psychologically safe environment. Although we try not to use that kind of language because we try to keep it at grassroots level.
We also have numerous Mental Health First Aiders but we have done more proactive work around creating the right environment for those working on our sites, including providing better welfare facilities.
You mentioned the transient workforce, which I’m guessing must make fostering a sense of belonging more challenging?
Yes. It’s very difficult on any programme to retain the same workforce for a prolonged period of time. When you get people dipping in and out, it’s a challenge to make them feel part of the team.
One way we’ve tried to overcome this at Tideway is our induction programme, EPIC, which really seeks to show individuals that they are included in our journey and vital to us as a project. We aim to show that they will be listened to, as well as outlining behaviours that are not acceptable to ensure people are being treated with respect.
You also mentioned the challenge of lack of career path. Can you tell me more about that?
Creating a clearer leadership path plays a huge part in improving this.
When I worked at Crossrail, we developed the Frontline Leadership Programme, which was an investment in training the frontline leaders.
For too long, in construction, all of the training investment has been at executive board and senior management level. But really, the people that need the skills to be able to manage and lead effectively are those at the coal face. And this has been starting to happen over the last decade across the industry, which is good.
What kind of skills are you hoping to cultivate in these frontline leaders?
Great leaders need to be empathetic, good at problem solving and able to manage conflict. They need to be able to recognise strengths and challenges within their teams and support individuals to develop.
You are a non-executive director at the Houses of Parliament. How optimistic do you feel about the new government in relation to Health and Wellbeing at work?
I don’t get involved in politics, but I’ve been encouraged by the approach of all parties in recognising the challenge that mental health in general brings to the population, and the support that is required.
The more that we can talk about it, and the more that we can invest in support services for those that are struggling with mental health, the better.
But I also think there needs to be more focus on employers in construction making psychologically safer spaces at work and preventing ill health, rather than just reacting to it, which is why it’s great that MAD World is adding a construction stream this year.
What would you like to talk about at MAD World on this front?
We need to look at what is contributing towards the current mental health crisis in construction and what we can do to prevent mental health problems in the first instance.
At MAD World, it’s about continuing the drumbeat around this topic as we haven’t seen the impact of the work that we’ve done yet, and there’s still so much more to do. We need to look at how we make workplace environments that allow individuals to thrive at work, rather than just survive.
Not to spoil what you plan to talk about in your panel, but can you give us a taster of what you plan to talk about?
Well, 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.
The Construction Summit at MAD World is an event committed to building better mental health and wellbeing cultures across the construction industry’s workfroces. The summit is being run in partnership with Mates in Mind, and hosts speakers such as Hails, and innovators in other progressive construction companies.
MAD World is on 17th October 2024, and will bring together speakers and attendees from across sectors and with a range of job titles for five tracks of leading-edge content that showcase best practice and provide insights and inspiration for all those looking to achieve maximum engagement with initiatives, optimise investment, stay one step ahead and really make a difference.
The stellar lineup of speakers includes: Professor Dame Carol Black GBE FRCP FMed Sci; Peter Cheese, CEO, CIPD, Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher, Chief Executive, The Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH), Dhavani Bishop, Head of Group Colleague Health & Wellbeing, Tesco, Kirstin Furber, People Director, Channel 4, Dr Clare Fernandes, Chief Medical Officer, BBC, Christian van Stolk, Executive Vice President, RAND Europe, Andrew Gibbons, Group Head of Wellbeing, Recognition and Hybrid Working, HSBC, Karen Brookes, Chief People Officer, Sir Robert McAlpine, Jaimy Fairclough, Wellbeing Specialist – People Division, Sainsbury’s, Dr Femi Oduneye, Vice President Health, Shell International B.V. and many more. You can find out more and register to attend here.
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