Mates in Mind

Treating health like safety.

Balfour Beatty Investment Holdings Ltd is already piloting the Mates in Mind programme and has joined with companies from across the construction industry to welcome the full roll out of the initiative.

Mates in Mind is a programme delivered to the UK construction industry with the support of the Health in Construction Leadership Group. It has created a flexible and joined-up approach to break the silence and stigma surrounding mental health in society, in general and construction in particular.

The programme is being run in partnership with a number of industry representatives and mental health charities such as The British Safety Council and Mental Health First Aid (MHFA).

Mates in Mind promotes a culture of positive well-being and provides firms with a tiered training framework to build understanding, knowledge and confidence in tackling mental health throughout businesses.

According to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures, 18% of reported work-related illnesses in the UK construction industry are the result of mental health problems such as stress, depression or anxiety and account for 400,000 working days lost each year. Further industry data reports that:

• 55% of construction workers have experienced mental health issues

• 42% of construction workers are living with mental health issues at their current workplace

• Construction deaths from suicide are also believed to be potentially 10x higher than that of fatal accidents at work.

This integral programme will ensure a consistent industry-wide approach to tackling the stigma around mental health within our industry.

Following the launch in 2017, Balfour Beatty Investment Holdings Ltd trained 980 of its UK workforce and supply chain in mental health first aid, supervisor training and starting the conversation around mental health. We are further committed to reaching 75% of our workforce by the end of 2020.

Visit the Mates in Mind website for more information.