The Chartered
Institute of Building (CIOB) is undertaking an extensive survey into mental
health within the construction industry.
This is increasingly
becoming a critical issue within the industry; the CIOB is responding to recent
figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) which found that men in
the UK construction industry are almost four times more likely to take their
own lives than men on average.
Professor Charles
Egbu, President of the CIOB, said of the survey: “This is an incredibly
important issue and one that aligns with the theme of my presidency. For over
20 years I’ve been looking into the area of mental health and wellbeing and
there is much research out there which sets out the scale of the problem and
shows that it is complex.
"My hope for
the outcomes of the survey is that, although there’s no one solution that
addresses these issues, we can gather data which will point to practical
support and solutions that will work.”
Anyone currently
working within the industry is being invited to complete the survey, which is
now open. CIOB members and non-members are being asked to provide their insight
into this important topic. All responses will be anonymous. However, there is the
option of leaving an email address to be entered into a draw to win a £100
Amazon gift voucher.
The link to the survey can be found here. (It should
take less than 10 minutes to complete)
The results from the
survey will be analysed to establish which are the primary pressures on
construction workers at different levels (e.g. director, site manager, site
worker etc.) and whether there are any other patterns across the responses.
Depending on the analysis, this information is then likely to be used to:
- Develop recommendations for
both the construction sector and policymakers to help reduce the pressures
identified
- Draw the above
recommendations, if legislative change is required, into a policy paper to
discuss with parliamentarians
- Gather case study material to
exemplify the primary issues raised in the survey and demonstrate the
impact that these issues can have on individuals
- Shape a detailed report
outlining the findings, sharing the case studies and summarising any
policy recommendations
It is anticipated
that the CIOB’s report with the analysis of the survey will be available later
this year.
