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Site workers urged to talk about mental health

Amy Blunt/BBC A man wearing a white hard hat, glasses, and a hi-vis jacket over a shirt and tie. He is standing in front of the metal fencing around a building site while looking into the cameraAmy Blunt/BBC
Michael Saunders, operations manager at Lovell Homes, said the industry was making progress

Construction workers are being encouraged to open up about their struggles after a charity declared a mental health crisis within the building industry.

Lighthouse, which provides support to workers and their families, is rolling out three mental health workshops at building sites across Norfolk between Wednesday and Friday.

The national charity said two "tradies" take their lives every working day in the UK and Ireland and it had already experienced a record number of calls for help this winter.

"It's a real, real shame as there are so many guys who are literally ticking timebombs," said Stu Burman, from Gorleston-on-Sea and founder of the Man Cave mental health support group.

"Men don't want to talk about their feelings, they just keep it under their hard hats, but talking saves lives.

"You have a bit of banter on site with the lads but there is never any talking about thoughts or feelings."

Alistair Beavis A man with a dark brown beard wearing a white shirt and holding an award while standing in front of a purple BBC Radio Norfolk backdropAlistair Beavis
Stu Burman, founder of the Man Cave support group, won the Volunteer Award at BBC Radio Norfolk's Make A Difference Awards

According to Mr Burman, whose online "brotherhood" enables thousands of men to speak openly, more needs to be done to get people the help they need more quickly.

"I had to be at the stage where it nearly cost me my life before I got any help, I faced the demons on my own - that's how broken the system is," he added.

"We're finding people getting on a six to 12 month waiting list for therapies and just being medicated, so they are just flat-lining through life."

'Room for improvement'

Michael Saunders, operations manager at Lovell Homes, which is building homes in King's Lynn, in partnership Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, said the industry was making inroads into providing better support for its workers.

"If we go back 20-30 years, the industry was much more about toughening up and getting on with it and people were taught to keep their mouth shut," he said.

"But we are a lot softer around the edges now and there is a lot more focus on people and sites are far, far better than they used to be in terms of safety and welfare.

"There's always room for improvement but the steps the industry has made has been really good and we have some really good support systems."

Amy Blunt/BBC A row of unfinished orange-coloured brick homes on a building site. Machinery and railings can be seen on a dirt-track. Amy Blunt/BBC
Two construction workers take their lives every working day in the UK and Ireland, according to charity Lighthouse

Lighthouse will hold two mental health workshops at Bateman Groundworks in Hethersett and Postwick, as well as at Hitachi Construction Machinery in Norwich.

"Tradespeople are most self-employed, so there's no consistency, no continuity of salaries, and it can be feast or famine," said Sarah Bolton, chief executive of the charity.

"So that, on top of general everyday life problems and the adverse weather, can be a bit of a perfect recipe [for disaster].

"We are very busy and seeing record numbers [of calls] so far over November and December but we are doing our very best to support."

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