Time to Talk Day - 7th February

Mental health continues to be an area of focus for the HCLG, and we are committed to promoting good mental health and reducing mental ill health in the construction industry.

To this end, we encourage you to participate in this year’s Time to Talk Day which is all about bringing together the right ingredients to have a conversation about mental health. Having conversations about mental health helps break down stereotypes, improve relationships, aid recovery and take the stigma out of something that affects us all. There are lots of different ways to have a conversation about mental health, and you don’t have to be an expert to talk, although it is good to know where you can go for further help and support.

The HCLG encourages construction employers to have in place a mental health programme which drives a culture of speaking up, and where design and construction programmes and workplace arrangements are implemented in such a way that the mental health and wellbeing of the workers is safeguarded and protected. Many organisations have developed and run their own Mental health programmes and HCLG has worked with Mates in Mind to develop an industry-wide framework and programme for construction employers to adopt in order to achieve this. The scheme has already reached over 150,000 individuals since its launch just over a year ago, and continues to grow.

As a reminder of why it’s so important we take action, between 2010 and 2015, more than 1,400 construction workers in the UK took their own lives, with industry figures showing that at any one time around 350,000 workers could be suffering from mental health problems.* We are keen to hear your different approaches to mental health, and ways you are tackling this in your own organisations. Get in touch with us on news@healthinconstruction.co.ukand we will work with you to write up your story, which could help others to take action too. For free advice and materials on Time to Talk Day, visit the Time to Change website. * Statistics Source here.