To mark World Mental Health Day, Benchmark Scaffolding welcomed Mates in Mind for a session on mental health, active listening and knowing what to do when somebody may need support.
The session was open to our employees, as well as customers and partners working alongside our teams on site.
Mental health remains a serious and complex issue across construction. Tight programmes, long hours and changing workloads sit alongside everything happening outside work, from relationships, finances, health, family responsibilities to loss and grief.
A session on mental health cannot solve that, but it can create a few moments of thought.
During the session, familiar phrases such as “man up”, “just get on with it” and “suck it up” came up in discussion. Often said without much thought, they reinforce the idea that struggling is something to hide.
Changing that culture takes time and often starts with small things. Noticing when someone who is usually engaged goes quiet. Asking how they are and asking again if the answer doesn’t feel quite right. Making time to listen when someone chooses to talk.
One of the strongest messages from Mates in Mind was that supporting someone does not mean fixing their problems. Listening without judgement, acknowledging what somebody is experiencing and helping them find the right support can make a difference.
It also means understanding our own limits. Colleagues, supervisors and Mental Health First Aiders are not therapists. Knowing when to listen, when to signpost and when further support is needed matters.
This isn’t a once-a-year conversation. We run quarterly themed health and wellbeing sessions, bringing together internal and external speakers to explore issues affecting our people and those we work alongside, while continuing to look for ways to make these conversations part of everyday working life.
Not every conversation needs to happen in a training session either. Benchmark Scaffolding Senior Contracts Manager Stuart Didd recently launched Scaff Walk, a monthly informal walk open to people across scaffolding and the wider construction industry, giving people another opportunity to meet, talk and check in with each other. The initiative builds on Stuart’s existing work through Bud’s Story.
We know that talks, posters and awareness days will not solve what remains a major crisis in our industry. Meaningful change is also about how people are treated, how work is managed, whether people feel able to speak honestly and whether the right support is available when they need it.
The measure is not how many sessions we run. It is whether people feel a little more able to speak up, notice when somebody else may be struggling and take the time to listen.
That change will not happen overnight, but every conversation that moves us in that direction is worthwhile.
Thank you to Mates in Mind and to everyone who joined us.
