In association with mental health awareness week in the UK, we are discussing how mental health is important, especially within our industry and on a construction site. 1 in 4 people will suffer with mental health problems in England alone, each year. Working in such a fast paced, demanding industry, is guaranteed to take a toll on operators and workers. We want to highlight what can be done to ensure staff can be helped.
WHAT IS STRESS?
Stress is a common problem that can lead to an individual suffering from mental health issues. It is an overwhelming feeling that most people do not have a control over. For example this could be caused by a high demand for a service or product, but not having the resources in place to meet the demand. This is something that happens quite frequently in the construction sector.
How to spot the signs
Stress can be made evident through our emotions, the way in which we react or behave, and our physical health. All of which are important to check!
Stress can be identified in the form of:
- Negative moods
- Forgetfulness and poor judgment
- Withdrawal from the people closest to us
- Accidents at work
- Fatigue and low energy levels
- Headaches and general aches and pains
If you spot any of the above signs in yourself or someone you know then be sure to get the correct advice and help if needed.
WHY IS STRESS A MAJOR ISSUE IN CONSTRUCTION?
Stress is considered one of the most problematic issues amongst workers in today’s society, which is why we wanted to focus on stress. 300,000 individuals leave their place of work every year because of mental health issues according to MIND. It is also said that the construction industry is one of the most stressful sectors to be in. 4 in 5 construction workers admit to being stressed for various reasons at least once a week.
Most construction workers struggle with the following issues that can lead to added stress:
- Being self employed
- Getting regular work can be a struggle, leading to poor job security
- Most operators work away from home without the support network of their friends and family
- Construction work is often made up of long hours and tight deadlines
The way the construction industry is structured means that workers often have little to no support, guidance of help to reduce stress within the workplace.
Stress, depression and anxiety account for a fifth of all work-related illnesses. The construction industry alone loses around 400,000 working days each year because of them. So how can we reduce this?
HOW CAN WE DEAL WITH MENTAL HEALTH?
As employers or employees there are a few things that can be done to help keep your mental health at bay on a construction site.
First aid course
As mental health is a topic popping up consistently in the workplace, there is now a mental health first aiders course available. Unfortunately it is not something we currently offer, but we are hoping to add it to our list of courses. Anyone interested in booking will cover various mental health conditions and how to identify them, providing advice for anyone struggling and mental health within the workplace.
For the time being all of our health and safety courses can be found on our website.
Improving your knowledge and skills
Thinking about personal development may help to reduce levels of stress. Increasing your knowledge and skills will allow operators to work effectively and efficiently. Reducing the need to worry about meeting demand on a construction site. The more courses you are qualified in, the easier your job could be.
View all of our available NPORS construction courses online, and get booking today.
CONTACT THE TEAM AT DIGGERLAND PLANT TRAINING SCHOOL TODAY
If you’re looking to increase your skills when it comes to construction machinery or simply need to book onto a first aid refresher course, our team can assist. At the Diggerland Plant Training School in Kent, we are here to help anyone looking to get qualified in the construction sector. Not only do we offer health and safety courses in Medway, we also have plenty of other construction courses to book.
Diggerland Plant Training School has 4 UK training sites located at Diggerland Kent (our main site), Devon, Durham and Yorkshire. We can also arrange for our instructors to teach on a customer’s site, at a time and date to suit the company or operators.
We can hopefully wave goodbye to the biggest, stressful situation, covid. Until then we can still offer customers individual training sessions, as well as operators within the same bubble or small numbers. Our training sites are fully prepared, and have all covid restrictions in place.
If you want to book onto any of our construction courses, we have a number of highly experienced instructors on hand to help. We are more than happy to discuss a particular course in detail if it’s something you’re interested in.
To get in contact with us or to book onto our courses please call: 01634 295355 or email us at: mail@digger.school.
Keep track of your mental health and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it!
