Managing Mental Health in the Construction Sector

Have you noticed that an employee within your team doesn’t quite seem like themselves? Perhaps they are quieter and more withdrawn than usual, their mood seems low, they’re more irritable or you’ve seen uncharacteristic changes to their behaviour at work. Would you know what to do?

Over nine million UK workers report dreading disclosing their mental health to their employers, with 36% fearing it would hamper their career and a fifth believing that it will cause them to be ostracized within the workplace.

Meanwhile, employers often avoid the subject due to fear of overstepping professional boundaries, lack of clarity on how to have the conversation or fear of legal ramifications. As a result, UK workplaces are often caught in a culture of silence whereby employees often find that their only option is to take long-term absence or leave their roles entirely.

It's time to tackle the taboo around workplace wellness and equip employers to have compassionate conversations around mental health with their workforce. Action Mental Health have put together three tips on discussing mental health with employees:

Be prepared to listen:

Whilst we have dozens of conversations throughout our working day, we often don’t take the time to actively listen. Rather than focusing on immediately providing a solution, prepare yourself to actively listen to what your employee is going through. To do this: -

• Set aside time for the conversation when you are least likely to have distractions.
• Prepare a confidential space.
• Turn off your phone and email notifications throughout.
• Let the employee know that they don’t have to disclose anything they’re not comfortable with.
• Make the conversation easier by asking open ended questions based on non-judgmental observations. For instance, rather than saying “You seem depressed recently,” you may wish to say, “I’ve noticed you’ve been quiet recently, I wanted to check in and see how you are?”.
• Stay away from making assumptions about what the person may be going through.

Appreciate that the employee often knows what they need:

As an employee, you have a legal duty of care to provide reasonable adjustments to those who have a recognised disability including people whose mental health issues have had a long-term and significant effect on their daily lives (see Equality Act 2010 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995). Reasonable adjustments may include flexible hours, change of workplace, remote working, change of duties, additional training and other arrangements designed to meet the needs of the employee and the workplace. In some situations, employees aren’t sure what measures would help so it’s important to understand what internal support is available. However, often those living with mental health issues have developed a range of tools to help them manage their condition and can offer valuable insights regarding the most suitable adjustments for their situation.

Understand external support:

As an employer, your role is to implement suitable support for employees within their workplaces. However, often external support is needed to help employees on the road to recovery. Prior to initiating a conversation with an employee, ensure that you’ve gained appropriate knowledge of suitable support services within your area.

Checkout BMHA’s signposting service that lists some sources of support.

Article provided by AMH Works.