‘Managing health like we manage safety’

Silvia Navarro’s article urged the government to deliver a properly funded, sector-focused strategy to combat the sector’s issues around mental health.

Mental health in construction is not just a wellbeing issue, it is a programme delivery risk. Fatigue, pressure and distraction do not just affect people, they affect decisions, productivity, quality and, ultimately, cost.

Until we start managing health like we manage safety – anticipating risk, designing it out where possible, controlling it through the programme – we will continue to treat the systems rather than the cause.

The government can do more, the industry can do more, and employers need to do a lot more.

Jennie Armstrong

In an interview with CM, the Department for Education’s Richard Taylor said the new design standards for school buildings are based on three environmental principles: healthy and productive spaces, reducing emissions and nature-based solutions.

It’s one of the reasons I volunteer on a multi-academy board trust as a trustee – to support when the built assets in our schools need to evolve with the support of the construction industry.

Dr. Claire Handby

In his article for CM, Stephen Hawes said that avoiding checks on concealed work doesn’t always save time.

This approach is laudable, with many MCs already using proprietary software to capture this information, but due to the sheer volume of the items that need to be recorded or reconciled, it has now become so unwieldy and time-consuming for site teams that, inevitably, items are misrecorded or missed entirely.

If data capture is so vitally important, then every subcontractor should have dedicated onsite, full-time quality managers trained in capturing the correct info.

Sadly, in my experience, this doesn’t happen, and all too often is left to the already overloaded managers onsite.

John Hendry

Off the back of Fair Chance Week, an initiative that aims to raise awareness about the employment barriers faced by those with criminal records, Lyndsey Gallagher, CEO of Gallagher, said the construction sector is uniquely placed to benefit from fair chance hiring.

Personally, I think this is something the industry should take seriously. Construction has always been an industry that gave people opportunities to rebuild their lives, develop skills and create long-term careers.

At a time when we continue to talk about labour shortages, it makes little sense to ignore people who are willing to work, learn and contribute.

Of course, there have to be safeguards, proper support and the right environments in place. Not every role will be suitable, and employers still have responsibilities to manage risk properly.

But I also think that too many people get written off permanently because of mistakes they made earlier in life.

Some of the hardest-working and most talented people I’ve worked with in construction have come from difficult backgrounds and simply needed someone to give them a chance.

The industry talks a lot about skills shortages. Part of the solution may also involve rethinking where we are prepared to look for talent.

Dave Ford FCIOB

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