University of Warwick researchers have shaped a new Mental Health Joint Code of Practice, launched by the Construction Leadership Council, that presents solutions to poor mental health in construction, which is one of the most significant risks facing the construction industry. The Office for National Statistics says the suicide rate for men in U.K. construction is nearly four times the national average. Yet mental health harm is not inevitable; it is the result of decision-making around how construction work is designed, planned and led.
For example, an anonymous construction worker consulted during the research said, "How often do we see sites understaffed in the first 75% of a project with everybody and their dog being thrown in at the end in high tension environments."
Another stated: "I've seen it before in jobs, you're just a number. You're not a person."
To enact real change, the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), of which Warwick is a sponsor, has published its Mental Health Joint Code of Practice (JCOP). The JCOP provides leaders and businesses across the sector with a framework to create an environment that fosters better mental health for their workforce.
Dr. Carla Toro, associate professor in mental health sciences at Warwick Medical School, and CLC mental health project steering group member, said, "This JCOP focuses on the systems, not just the individuals. It asks the sector to apply the same discipline to mental health risk that it applies to physical safety risk, where we identify, assess, control, monitor and improve, continuously.
