This is a best practice guideline NOT a tramline, so please feel free to adopt some, all, or none of the activities listed below. However it is important that you do something to raise awareness of mental health in your business only you can decide what best suits your operation. There are many great ideas in action in our great industry and we do not have all the answers, so if you are doing something that is making a positive impact, please share if you can.
Click here to purchase Helpline Cards and Posters
STEP 1: If you have an employee assistance programme for your staff, make sure its well publicised with posters around the sites and cards given to all those in the programme. If you do not have a programme you can always use the Construction Industry Helpline. This is a 24/7 Helpline funded by the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity who in turn are funded by the generosity of the companies and individuals in construction. These helpline cards and posters can be obtained by registered users of the Considerate Constructors scheme at www.CCScheme.org.uk/Products or they are available from the charity website www.ConstructionIndustryHelpline.com/Products
Click on the above image to download the Building Mental health Tool Box Talk
STEP 2: Create an interactive Tool Box talk to raise the awareness of everyone in the organisation to the mental health issues we have and help educate them on identifying possible signs of stress, anxiety and depression and how to start the conversation. If you do not have a "Tool Box" talk already in place then download and use this template version. It comes with a guidance note and is fully scripted. Simply click on the image opposite and the link will take you to the download site... but beware its a big file with 3 videos in it. (78MB)
Mental Health Awareness E-Learning
If you have remote workers who cannot attend the "Tool Box" talk, Considerate Constructors have a self paced course available on line. This is FREE but you will have to register your name and details
Click here for information on half day and one day courses
STEP 3: It is always good to have anyone that is a "people manager" in your organisation given a little more information on how to recognise and what to do when confronted by somebody with a mental health issue. Mental Health First Aid England have a CITB eligible generic course that raises better understanding and advice on potential pathways for help.
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STEP 4: Having certified Mental Health First Aiders on site is probably the highest level at the moment, (this is a 2 day intensive course). For large sites we would encourage you to have one Mental Health First Aider for every 100 employees and subcontractors on site. These courses do incur costs and usually cost around £200 - £300 per delegate. Generic courses are available from Mental Health First Aid England. However, with the help of CITB and Mental Health First Aid England, we are developing a construction focussed Mental Health First Aider course and we will have the resources certified to deliver this by July 2018. For more information contact Jenny.Corsale@Lighthouseclub.org
The following contacts and companies specialise in construction and have completed the CITB funded MHFA Instructor course. They would be pleased to quote you to deliver MHFA Training at your site.
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Click here for Mental health First Aider 2 Day Course
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Mental Health First Aid 7 Day Instructor Course funded by CITB
NOTE: We recognise there will be a huge shortage of availability of training to accelerate certifying Mental health First Aiders on site, so we have been working with the CITB who have very generously funded a campaign to educate 150 Mental Health First Aid INSTRUCTORS within construction. Once trained these instructors will be able to speed up the roll out of this initiative. If you are a large company with many on site workers across the country it might be worthwhile investing in your own INSTRUCTOR for more information follow the link ... 7 Days that could change your life.
How to claim for your Mental Health Training from the CITB: If your company is levy registered not necessarily a levy payer, then you can claim a fixed sum for to help subsidise the Mental Health Training you have undertaken. Get help here |
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Click on the above image to purchase stickers
STICKERS: We have developed a sticker system for identifying individuals that have been trained at the different levels. You might want to use your own system but we have adopted a simple Gold, Silver, Bronze scheme. These stickers can be obtained by following this link www.ConstructionIndustryHelpline.com/Products
STICKERS: We have developed a sticker system for identifying individuals that have been trained at the different levels. You might want to use your own system but we have adopted a simple Gold, Silver, Bronze scheme. These stickers can be obtained by following this link www.ConstructionIndustryHelpline.com/Products
Click on the above image to sign the charter
MANAGEMENT SUPPORT: It goes without saying that creating a culture to support positive mental health within your organisation needs senior management support. This is why we created the charter. The Building Mental Health Charter is a document that you can download, amend and have your senior management sign. This can then be displayed in a place of prominence to demonstrate management support. You can sign up to this charter here.
Click on the above image to view Best Practice Hub
BEST PRACTICE: Once you have your Building Mental Health campaign up and running it is vitally important to keep it "fresh". Remember you are not alone in the journey to improve the mental health of our industry and there are many other companies passionate about making a difference. We have linked up with the Considerate Constructors Scheme and they have a dedicated section to put a spotlight on Mental Health. In this section you will find lots of ideas and information on this subject. The contributors are other companies just like you in the construction industry so the content is very practical and easily implemented. You too can contribute to this Best Practice Hub by registering at the Considerate Constructors Scheme.
CONSTRUCTION BUDDY: This is a project currently under development. Our intention is to create an APP that is downloadable free of charge to all construction workers in the country. This APP will support those who feel uncomfortable calling a Helpline or talking to somebody on site. They will be able to use this an APP to help build Mental Health, Build Physical Health, Build Financial Health and Build Legal Health. Its a big project and we are looking for funding of about £50,000 to get it off the ground. We will keep you posted on our success.