Julia Shervington of Mates in Mind discusses how stress uniquely affects construction workers, and how it can best be managed
Trigger Warning: this article mentions suicide.
Work is good for workers, business, the local community and the country as a whole. Keeping workers in work benefits us all. And yet, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) data shows that:
- In construction, 19% of all ill health was due to stress, depression or anxiety.
- The economic costs from all work-related ill health and workplace injury in construction is estimated at £1.4 billion.
Therefore, all employees should have an understanding of what stress is, what causes it, and have the skills to identify and mitigate the risk of stress in the workplace. It is also important for organisations to build a workplace culture of prevention that protects workers against stress, maintains their wellbeing and keeps them in work.
“Everyone gains if we can keep Britain working.
“Achieving that will require a new deal – one where employers, employees and government each play their part.
“Employers must be in the lead. Some may resist that message amid tight margins and slow growth. But many already recognise they are carrying the cost of ill-health every day.” Sir Charlie Mayfield, Lead reviewer, Keep Britain Working
What is stress and when is it burnout?
Stress is how we react to perceived danger. It has two forms: one builds up over time from regular stressors, such as a heavy workload or noisy working conditions; the other is more dramatic and is caused by a sudden or unexpected event, such as a car accident or a bereavement.
Stress is not always bad for us – it initiates our fight-or-flight response, releasing hormones that help us manage a challenge by improving focus, motivating us, enhancing our performance, and building resilience. In the short term, temporary, meaningful and manageable stress is beneficial. An example of good stress is learning a new skill.
However, bad stress (or distress, which is what bad stress causes) occurs when chronic or overwhelming stress is experienced. It can be harmful to mental and physical health. An example of bad stress is unrelenting work pressure, including an excessively high workload and unreasonable deadlines.
The causes of workplace stress vary by organisation, the individual and their line manager. However, it can include long and irregular hours; working away from home; tight deadlines; late payments and economic insecurity; lone working, isolation, and lack of support; intense physical work; and working outside in all weather conditions, all of which can impact our mental and physical health.
Below are the six HSE Management Standards, which provide examples of work-related stressors:
- Demands – your workload and how challenging it is for you.
- Control – how much control you have over how, when and where you do your work.
- Support – how much help you get to do your job (when required) and how much training is provided.
- Role – whether the job is right, whether you want to do it, and if you can do it.
- Relationships – how you get on with your colleagues, including your line manager, and how well you work together.
- Change – how much notice you receive about upcoming changes and whether or not you agree with them.
So, how do you know when it’s too much stress?
It is important to acknowledge that excessive stress, over periods of time, without the ability to recover, leads to fatigue, feeling overwhelmed, unable to cope and burnt out, which results in ill-health. However, the line between ‘stress’ and ‘excessive stress’ varies by individual, as everyone reacts differently to it.
What matters here is not how much stress you can endure, but that you have the skills to reduce stress. This means that both the organisation (in terms of identifying and mitigating work-related stress risk factors) and individuals (in terms of knowing how to optimise their own mental wellbeing (exercise, sleep, nutrition, relaxation, work-life balance and so on)) have roles to play in reducing stress and its impact.
If you do not identify and mitigate the risk of stress, then it can lead to burnout, or worse.
According to the World Health Organization, “Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterised by three dimensions:
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
- Reduced professional efficacy.”
How does stress impact us?
Everyone is different.
- The signs that someone is experiencing stress, or mental ill-health, will vary from one person to another.
- The amount of stress felt and the time it lasts for will vary from person to person.
- How stress impacts one person’s health will be different to how it affects another’s.
- What works for one person in terms of reducing or mitigating stress will not necessarily work for another person.
Therefore, the key is to understand, create, and implement the big picture (your strategy), while also being able to tailor and embed it at the individual level (your interventions). More on this later.
Common impacts of stress include:
- Emotional state – such as feeling depressed, tearful, angry, lethargic, restless, agitated, being unable to concentrate, etc.
- Physical health – including disrupted sleep, muscle tension, upset stomach or bowel, and heart conditions.
- Character changes – being late, absent or exhibiting ‘presenteeism’ at work; finding it hard to cope with everyday things; not wanting to talk to or be with people; using alcohol or drugs to cope with feelings; not replying to messages; not wanting to do things you usually enjoy.
The key is to notice when someone is ‘not being themselves’ or that they are ‘acting out of character’. This can often be the clue that it is time to start a conversation with them, signpost support if needed and make reasonable work adjustments where necessary, because if left unaddressed, stress can have a devastating impact.
Chris worked in construction for 30 years. In early 2019, he experienced a mental health crisis brought on by severe work-related stress, which developed at a rapid speed and had catastrophic consequences. Chris died by suicide. In this heartfelt and emotional video, Chris’s mum shares, “Companies need to be aware of what is happening and that stress can kill. It does kill.”
Watch Chris’s story in full here.
Your legal duty of care
‘Preventing work-related stress isn’t just good for people – it’s the law’ (HSE).
Despite organisations having a legal duty of care; that good stress management practices are good for business and help organisations avoid potential prosecution and a fine; and the fact that looking after the mental wellbeing of your team is the right thing to do; our survey results below demonstrate that too many organisations simply do not prioritise assessing and addressing work-related stress.
- Almost 70% of respondents said that their line managers do not know how to undertake stress risk assessments or understand when they may be necessary.
- Over 46% do not have mental health policies in place.
- 61% said they have not provided all employees with general mental health awareness training in the last two years.
- However, almost 78% said they do record the reason for absence being related to stress or common mental health conditions.
The fact that many organisations are not doing enough to identify and mitigate stress in the workplace is also borne out by:
- A survey on disclosing mental ill-health found that:
- 27% of workers who took time off due to stress received no support upon their return, and only 17% had a formal return-to-work plan put in place.
- 35% of workers said they are not comfortable letting their line manager or senior leader know they are experiencing high or extreme levels of pressure and stress at work.
- 39% of workers aged 18–24 feel uncomfortable opening up to a manager about stress levels.
- Another survey found that 15% of employees admitted that stress and fear have already led to preventable mistakes.
- Government statistics show that, on average, preventing a single job loss can save employers £8,000 in recruitment costs and business output.
- Employers that proactively invest in mental health support for their workforce can make significant gains, with an average £5 return for every £1 spent on wellbeing support.
How to build positive mental health in and through work
Let’s start by looking at the types of intervention you can use:
- Primary: this is about organisation-wide prevention, i.e., identifying and mitigating risk, e.g., organisational culture, policies, management, etc., as well as identifying and filling gaps in provision.
- Secondary: this is about prevention at an employee level, e.g., upskilling individuals.
- Tertiary: is treatment, i.e., providing solutions at the point of need, e.g., Employee Assistance Programmes and helplines.
All three stages are important, necessary and need to be optimised. However, at Mates in Mind, we advocate for a focus on prevention, i.e., proactive interventions (primary and secondary) in order to provide support before someone reaches the point of crisis. For example, through:
- Management buy-in: Both in terms of creating, embedding and protecting a culture of prevention across the organisation and supply chain, and leading by example in terms of talking about your own mental health and demonstrating it is ok to ask for help.
- Assessment: Should involve all levels of seniority and all roles across your organisation. Assessments should include:
- Where are you on your mental health journey? This should lead to the development of an action plan to fill any gaps. For example, the Mates in Mind’s Supporter Programme provides both a comprehensive assessment and a tailored action plan.
- If you employ five or more members of staff, then you need to complete, record and safely store a written stress risk assessment form. Although you do not need to complete a written form if you employ four or less, it is still good practice to do so. “Employers have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it. This is the same duty you have to protect people from other health and safety risks” (HSE).
- Setting targets: Monitoring outcomes, recording evidence and reporting on it to your Board. Know what success looks like in terms of the mental health of your workforce; plan how and by when you will fill the gaps identified in your assessment; and keep records of the outcomes and evidence of actions you have taken.
- Education: Educating your whole workforce so they have the skills, clarity and confidence to spot the signs of mental ill-health, start conversations, undertake stress risk assessments, signpost support and make reasonable work adjustments if needed.
- Providing support: Be that through Mental Health First Aiders, HR Team, Occupational Health, an Employee Assistance Programme, peer mentors, and ensuring the information is communicated regularly with staff. Ensure your line managers have the skills and authority to undertake stress risk assessments and act on them, including making reasonable work adjustments. “Employers must make reasonable adjustments to make sure workers with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged when doing their jobs.” (Gov.uk)
- Communicating: Provide relevant, timely, and accessible communication materials to the workforce, demonstrating an open and supportive culture to end the stigma of mental ill-health and encourage conversations.
- Mentoring: Creating peer support networks across the organisation, supply chain, contractors, etc. These networks are not just top-down but also bottom-up. The aim is to educate and support all workers.
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI): As part of an inclusive culture, it is vital that your diverse workforce know that their needs – physical, mental, financial, religious, physiological, etc. – are known, understood, respected, valued and integrated. DEI is not just about protected characteristics; it is not a tick-box exercise, not just something you include on your company website and annual report, but it needs to be ingrained in everything you do and say, including the language you use.
- Policies: Ensuring that you not only have the right policies in place, but that they are regularly reviewed and updated as circumstances change. In addition to informing employees of their employment rights and what is expected of them in the workplace, policies should also help to set and reinforce the behaviours and values expected from everyone.
- Review the above stages at least every two years to evaluate the current situation, demonstrate progress, and identify new targets for the future.
Next steps
Whichever stage of the mental health journey you are on, Mates in Mind can help you build a mentally resilient workforce:
- Discover how we can work with you to build positive mental health in and through work
- Learn more about Stress Awareness Month and download a free resource
- Download free mental health resources and watch our video series
- Access mental health and wellbeing training
- Read our blogs on workplace culture, stress management, suicide prevention, removing the stigma and much more
The post How organisations can reduce stress in construction and keep workers in work appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
