Sisk, VolkerStevin, Balfour Beatty and Graham are among the first construction companies to register with the Mindflow Charter, a new framework designed to help businesses improve mental health and wellbeing across their workforce.
The Charter Register is now open, allowing construction organisations to complete a self-assessment, receive a one- to three-star rating and gain formal Charter Registered status. Other organisations already signed up include MCC and FCE Projects.
Developed by mental health charity Mindflow with construction and mental health leaders, the Charter sets out 11 principles covering leadership, culture, communication and support. It is intended to help businesses make mental health and wellbeing part of their day-to-day operations rather than treating it as a separate initiative.
The principles include appointing a Mindflow Champion to coordinate activity, having a written mental health and wellbeing policy, ensuring equal access to support across roles and sites, and creating a culture in which people feel able to speak openly without fear of stigma or blame. They also cover leadership training and engagement with preventative and early-intervention services.
The self-assessment takes around 10 minutes and is open to organisations of all sizes across the construction supply chain. The resulting star rating is published on the public Charter Register, providing a visible indication of how businesses are addressing mental health and wellbeing.
‘Mental health deserves commitment’
Trevor Steven, chief executive of Mindflow, said: “Construction has made significant progress in health and safety because the industry came together, set expectations and made improvements part of everyday working life. We believe mental health deserves that same level of commitment. We know that awareness matters, but awareness alone isn’t enough.”
The Charter builds on Mindflow’s work on construction sites, where its Match-Ups programme involves former professional footballers to share their experiences of adversity and mental health. The sessions are intended to encourage conversations among workers and help reduce stigma around seeking support.
A long-term research partnership with the University of Warwick will independently evaluate the Charter’s implementation and impact as more organisations register. The research will examine how businesses put the principles into practice, the changes that result and where further improvements may be needed.
The initiative comes against a backdrop of continuing concern about mental health in the industry. Mindflow highlights that two construction workers in the UK take their own lives every working day.
The Charter is open to companies throughout the construction industry, with Mindflow aiming to build a collective approach to improving mental health and wellbeing across the sector.
