Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is teaming up with McLaren Construction to help address the alarming suicide figures for men who work in the construction industry.
The most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics, suggest suicide among construction workers remains high, which has prompted McLaren Construction and Mersey Care to organise a day of mental health awareness training on 13 July for workers at Speke Retail Park.
It is hoped that the training will help ensure staff are better equipped to recognise, understand and offer practical steps to support colleagues at work with common mental health symptoms.
David Fearnley, Mersey Care’s Medical Director, said: “Recent studies (Public Health England) suggest that male construction workers have the greatest risk of suicide and are currently more than three times at risk than the national average.
“At Mersey Care we are striving for zero suicide within our care so we take prevention very seriously and the natural progression of that is to increase awareness and help give people potentially life-saving skills wherever possible.
“This link with a major construction company like McLaren is crucial in improving understanding and providing greater awareness for staff and management so mental health issues can be handled better.”
As part of the mental health awareness day next Thursday, Mersey Care are also staging an event to promote their Big Brew campaign, which encourages people getting together over a cuppa to talk about their problems and access services quicker.
The initiative is part of McLaren’s policy to look after their welfare of their staff and Gary Cramp, Operations Director at McLaren Construction Midlands & North, explained: ‘’As part of McLaren Construction’s ongoing commitment to health, safety and welfare of our project teams, we are thrilled to be taking part in the NHS Big Brew campaign in Speke.
“Tackling mental health in construction is hugely important, as people in the industry still view it as a taboo. Dealing with mental health is not just good for the workforce; it is also essential for productivity, efficiency and exceeding our customers’ expectations. We are looking forward to the day and creating a greater awareness whilst promoting speaking up on the issue of mental health.’’