The number of mental health support services available to construction workers has drastically increased, research from the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) shows.
Data from a new report, called Understanding Mental Health in the Built Environment 2025, revealed more than three-quarters of workers had been encouraged to get involved in support events like Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs throughout this week (W/C 12 May 2025), and more than half of people surveyed said they had access to a mental health first aider at work if they need help.
Despite the positives however, there remains an alarming amount of people struggling with their mental health working within the industry, including the 28 per cent of survey respondents who revealed they have experienced suicidal thoughts in the past year. Nearly one in five (17 per cent) also revealed they do not have the confidence to approach a colleague they think might be struggling.
Daisie Barnett, policy development manager at CIOB and author of the report, said: “This survey follows a similar report CIOB published in 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic. We were interested to see how the industry has responded, particularly in the wake of the pandemic and the data gives us mixed results.
“We know working in construction is not without its physical and mental challenges, so it is incredibly encouraging to see the increase in support available to the workforce. Fifty-four per cent of people we spoke to told us they have mental health first aiders available at their place of work, up from 35 per cent in 2020, more than a third (35 per cent) said they now have scheduled 1:1 meetings with their managers and 77 per cent have been encouraged to get involved with awareness events.”
Worryingly however, there remains a significant number of people working in the industry living through mental ill-health, including high levels of anxiety, fatigue and thoughts about suicide.
“Looking at the data, nearly one in four people (24 per cent) working in the industry have experienced stress daily over the past year,” Barnett continued.
“Twenty per cent of those we spoke to have experienced daily fatigue, most likely due to long working hours to meet looming deadlines, and more than a quarter have felt suicidal at least once over the past year.
“In an ideal world, nobody working in the industry would experience any mental wellbeing concerns at all. While that vision might be slightly unrealistic, CIOB believes there is still far more the industry and government can do to support the people working in the construction sector.”
CIOB has made a series of recommendations, challenging companies to commit to achieving better mental health outcomes.
Barnett added: “Clearly, there is more work to do, and our report sets out some excellent starting points for both businesses and the government to consider.
“Firstly, we would like to see more company leaders commit their business to the Mental Health at Work Commitment, which is a simple framework that builds off the Thriving at Work standards.
“More companies need to mandate monthly 1-1 check-in meetings between managers and their direct reports that focus on mental wellbeing, fatigue management plans, and induction processes that promote integration and the importance of wellbeing to new staff.
“Managers need better training in identifying and managing poor mental health. Even for micro businesses, there are free webinars online to help people better equip themselves with an understanding of mental health issues.”
Recommendations to the UK Government include reducing the financial stress on small businesses by reviewing the Fair payment Code and considering whether this should be made mandatory for large contractors to stick to.
CIOB has also called for an update to the Suicide Prevention Strategy for England drawing experience from Australia’s successful strategy, and targets to be put in place to measure its progress. It has also recommended Government ensures its Men’s Health Strategy has sufficient focus on mental health in high-risk sectors such as construction to ensure initiatives are appropriate and achieves the outcomes intended.
CIOB’s report has been backed by Mates in Mind, a leading charity addressing the stigma surrounding mental ill-health. Sam Downie, Managing Director, said: “We know that training is a crucial step in building positive mental health in and through work, in order to embed a proactive culture of prevention.
“Educating all employees and workers across your supply chain to spot the signs of mental ill-health, have the confidence to start a conversation about it and be able to signpost further support, is crucial. It is through normalising conversations about mental health, that we are able to address the stigma that surrounds it, and it is education, and practice of course, that gives people the confidence to start those important conversations.
“In addition, for those in management positions, it is also important to know how and when to assess and mitigate the risk of stress. Even though employers have a legal duty of care to protect workers from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it, almost 70 per cent of respondents in our survey, said that their line managers would not know how to undertake stress risk assessments or understand when they may be necessary.”
Free resources to support individuals struggling with their mental wellbeing can be found at: www.samaritans.org or by calling the NHS by dialling 111 (UK only). The CIOB Assist fund exists to help members who may be experiencing mental health difficulties and signposts a variety of accessible materials.
