Why you need to support workers mental health and wellbeing now more than ever
Rising costs and policy changes make supporting worker wellbeing more critical than ever.
Mental Health Blog, Tips, Wellbeing, Wellness
Why you need to support workers mental health and wellbeing now more than ever
why you need to support worker mental health now more than ever
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Why it’s critical to support your workers wellbeing now more than ever.
We all know that looking after worker health and safety on construction sites is important – and saves lives. But what about looking after worker’s mental health and safety on site?
A recent report from Safe Work Australia (SWA) highlighted the human and financial costs of poor mental health in the construction, trades and manufacturing industry. Mental health conditions rose from 6 per cent of all compensation claims in 2014-15 to 9 per cent in 2020-21. While that doesn’t seem like a huge amount of mental health compensation claims – less than ten per cent – the data shows mental health compensation claims cost orders of magnitude more, both financially and in terms of time off work. The median compensation paid for a mental health claim is $55,270 per claim compared to a median $13,883 for a physical injury and illness claim – that means that, on average, a mental health compensation claim costs almost four times as much as a physical health compensation claim. Time wise, a mental health injury will sideline a worker for a median of 30.7 weeks (more than six months) compared to a median 6.2 weeks (under two months) for a physical illness or injury. You don’t have to be an accountant or a project manager to see these figures representing a huge cost to business if mental health compensation claims continue to increase.
What’s harder to measure is the human cost of poor mental health in the construction industry: however, suicide statistics for people who work in construction paint an unfortunate picture of the tragic toll that poor mental health takes on workers. Construction workers are six times more likely to die by suicide than from an accident at work, and every second day a construction worker tragically takes their own lives. Suicide rates in the construction industry are a staggering 80 per cent higher than the general working age population. These numbers are alarming, and don’t begin to touch on the people whose lives will be impacted by losing someone they love to suicide.
It’s clear we need to do more to look after the mental health of people working in the construction industry. We introduced work health and safety standards to protect workers physical health, and we now take for granted that hard hats, high vis and protection from harmful substances like asbestos are all part of doing the job well. Ten years from now, is it not too wild to think that we might look at providing high quality mental health support to construction workers in the same way? You can get some tips to help identify 10 ways to spot at risk workers by reading our previous article.
Impact of the mental health care plan reduction
Mental health care in Australia is in crisis, and getting mental health help is patchy at best. Australians who have been able to access 20 medicare subsidised sessions are now only able to claim Medicare rebates for 10 visits. Cost is a huge barrier for many people, with counselling or psychology sessions starting at around $100 and going up to $280 – a cost which many people can’t afford in the face of rising mortgage repayments, rents and groceries.
Another barrier is making that first booking: when you’re feeling absolutely low, the thought of picking up the phone and trying to get an appointment can be a bit much. Finding the time to get to an appointment – commuting, parking the car, waiting in a waiting room – is also a barrier, particularly for people who are working long hours.
Given the issues facing people outside of work, it is no wonder that absenteeism and presenteeism is rising, causing large productivity issues for companies across Australia and costing an estimated $6.3 billion per annum. It is more critical than ever for you as an employer to be supporting their mental health to ensure the best possible state of mind while at work.
Foremind is a construction industry focused employee assistance program (EAP) that was founded to address the issue of poor mental health and wellbeing. We’ve designed Foremind to remove some of the barriers to accessing a more traditional EAP service and make it and easy, streamlined experience. F
oremind offers workers free, confidential counselling sessions they can book online (no need to call and make an appointment) with highly qualified registered counsellors. Foremind counsellors work across phone, zoom and face to face, meaning workers can choose a way of getting help that suits their busy lives. And for workers who might not need, or be ready for, a counselling session, Foremind provides high quality mental health resources with practical, down to earth tips for how we can look after our mental health.
We can’t expect to turn stats like these around overnight, but we can start to change the culture around mental health in the construction industry. It is time to put mental health care in the pocket of every worker.
Find out how Foremind can help your workers today!
Need help now? Call:
- Lifeline: 13 11 14
- Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
- Mates In Construction: 1300 642 111
Find out more about how we are improving mental health in construction!
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Hello 👋 I’m Joel the founder of Foremind.
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Answers to the frequently asked questions.
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We partner with counsellors who work in private practice so they are also free to work for other organisations if they see fit. The all have their own private practices however, they’re still all handpicked by Louise… Never had an issue with any of our counsellors… we maintain high levels of quality control.
Foremind offers multilingual support, with professionals available in languages including Spanish, Portuguese, mandarin, vietnamese and Persian
All our counsellors are contractors. They are highly qualified and go through long interview processes to ensure they are the right fit.
All counsellors must apply to the role and are interviewed before added to the platform, must meet the criteria as per the below.- We employee counsellors, mental health social workers, mental health nurses and psychotherapists.- Qualifications in Counselling, Psychotherapy or Social Work, minimum Bachelor or Masters qualification- Minimum 3 years direct practice experience post graduation- Registration with appropriate body – PACFA Clinical registration, ACA level 2 minimum, Accredited Mental health Social worker or Clinical Social worker- Broad experience providing individual coaching, counselling and support for personal and work-related issues- How far reaching is your EAP? We have counsellors located in every major city in Australia.