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More suicides in construction than any other industry

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  1. Problem is, mental health is still taboo in a lot of companies and it’s still career suicide to even broach the subject. Attitudes are changing though, and initiatives such as Mates in Mind will help, but I fear that we are still 10-20 years away from significantly improving the situation. As the younger and more switched on workforce gains seniority I’d imagine things will gradually change, but until then it’ll remain something people struggle through alone.

  2. I think part of the issue is that poor procurement can put a strain on the project team to deliver on time and on budget. The best estimators come second…most jobs are won because someone has made a mistake… so they are off to a bad start from the beginning, Main contractors pass this down the line to subcontractors and it ultimately ends up on the shoulders of the man at the coal face who is under terrible pressure to complete on time for a much reduced cost, and who more often than not is working away from home weeks on end because he has to work weekends….CDM has part to play here…is the project adequately resourced? more often than not it is not, as it is the cheapest tender that usually gets the work, clients and project managers have a duty to ensure that the the project is adequately resourced and not just accept the lowest tender.

  3. A study carried out in South Africa and published in 2016 identified the top 5 work demands as being the most stressful. Whilst this study does not represent the UK. I get the feeling that similar results would be achieved if the study was carried out in the UK.
    1. Meeting critical time constraints.
    2.Lack of cooperation from project stakeholders.
    3.Long hours worked.
    4.Meeting cost constraints.
    5.Skewing of work-life balance.

    My own experience of working with people in a managerial position is to get to know your people(You don’t need to be friends) and gain their trust so that they know they can at least come and speak to you if they are having a problem. You may not be able to resolve the many and varied issues that impact on people but at least you can empathise and sometimes that can make a big difference. It’s a skill that only comes with experience as you have to balance being interested but not nosey/interfering. You must also come across as being genuinely interested or they will loose trust and clam up even more.

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