Group says initiative designed to address several issues impacting people’s mental wellbeing
The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has launched its Mental Health Joint Code of Practice (JCOP).
The CLC said the code will provide firms with a framework to create an environment that creates better mental health for their workforce.
It said the JCOP will be trialled on Kier’s jobs for the Crown Estate at 33 Piccadilly and 10 Piccadilly in London.
The CLC said that during a series of focus groups and industry consultation, there were five core primary causes impacting the workforce’s mental health:
- Working Patterns (e.g. long hours and excessive travel)
- People Factors and Work Environment (Welfare, Dignity and Respect)
- Operational Factors (e.g. commercial pressures)
- Barriers to Mental Health support (stigma and low mental health literacy stop people getting help)
- Financial Factors (Late payment and financial insecurity)
In a statement, the CLC added: “The invitation is simple to leaders and business: adopt [the code], use it, improve it – and help the sector move forward together, in step, towards work that is healthier by design.
“This is a joint code, written by the sector, for the sector. It reflects the reality that no single organisation can deliver change in isolation.”
CLC co-chair Chris McDonald added: “We are still losing far too many people working in construction to suicide and behind every number is a family, a friend, a colleague whose life has been cut short. That is simply not good enough. This code is about facing up to that reality and taking action early, so people get the support they need before it reaches crisis point.”
The CLC said its work on the code has been led by the Department for Business and Trade, Heathrow Airport, The Crown Estate, Bam UK and Ireland, mental health charity Mates In Mind and Warwick University.
Others to work on it were insurer Marsh Risk, law firm BCLP and the New Hospital Programme.
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