Last Wednesday MATES in Construction visited Nyblad Construction for our monthly team meeting to discuss mental health in the building and construction industry. The visit was organised after coming across some pretty scary statistics about the prevalence of suicide in the building and construction industry compared to the overall suicide rates in Australia.
Thanks to our Master Builders Qld membership, we’ve seen MATES in Construction sponsor some of the events we’ve attended over the years and decided to reach out to see what we could do to better support our team.
After speaking with a MATES in Construction team member we enrolled the entire team in their General Awareness training program which has been designed to introduce workers to the nature of the problem, that it’s ok to talk about mental health and to provide a practical guide on how they can assist.
According to research quoted by MATES in Construction, 190 Australians working in the construction industry commit suicide every year; That’s equivalent of one construction worker every second day.
Construction workers are also eight times more likely to die from suicide than an accident at work. For younger workers, the facts state that they are well over two times more likely to take their own lives than other young Australian men. These are very sobering statistics, and we are so grateful that there are organisations like MATES in Construction to bring awareness to mental health and wellbeing as well as delivering training and programs for workers who need support.
With so much time spent at work, we believe that investing in the welfare of our team is just one way to support our team members. We are so grateful to the team at MATES in Construction for coming out and chatting with us.
If you are a construction worker who is struggling with mental health, please reach out to MATES in Construction for help. You can call their 24/7 helpline at 1300 650 890 or visit their website at www.matesinconstruction.org.au.
Resources
- MATES in Construction: https://MATES.org.au/
- Beyond Blue: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
- Lifeline: https://www.lifeline.org.au/
- Suicide Prevention Australia: https://www.suicideprevention.org.au/
