It has been found out that one out of five people staying in the United States is struggling with mental health conditions. Working in a construct action company poses various risks associated with it. However, most of the risks can be mitigated by following up on the proper safety procedures.
In the construction industry, workers are seen to be six times more likely than other professionals to suicide and die. There are various reasons why mental health becomes a very challenging affair in the construction Industry. Mental health training can help them a lot in overcoming the mental health challenges of those workers.
Mental Health Challenges of the Construction Workers
Construction workers are working for long hours and exhausted for long working on the seasonal working schedule. A negative stigma always surrounds the reason behind facing a mental health challenge due to disinformation and conditioning.
The workplace policies had often discouraged any communication regarding the mental health of the employees or the workers. People don’t even try to discuss their mental health issues with their co-workers or other people working out there. This is due to the fear of losing their jobs and even getting alienated from their friends or colleagues. Due to it, people are seen to be internalizing this stigma. They may get surrounded by negative self-talk rather than speaking out to others and seeking help regarding their mental health issues.
The Covid-19 pandemic was a very challenging one for many construction workers and their families. Many of them suffered from losing their loved ones, and many individuals were also suffering from their mental challenges. Many construction industry sites were completely shut down due to the complete lockdown in India for a couple of months in the year 2020 and again in 2021. It had led to many workers losing their jobs and had to return home.
But unfortunately, many construction companies didn’t offer any mental health support to their workers. However, few companies have started to explore different ways to educate their workers and other staff to support mental health issues.
Various Benefits of Mental Health Training
Mental health training has various benefits both for the workers and the organization. Every organization can get lots of help from establishing a mental health training program in their organization. Following are some of the benefits of a mental health training program for a construction worker:
- Helps In Reducing Stigma– Society has been seen to be making a lot of significant changes and progress in recent years. Negative pictures or impressions in various popular media have continued the negative stigma related to mental health. Mental health training can help in reducing this stigma among the workers. It will also be helpful in good health and increased productivity of the workers.
- Improvement In Communication- The most significant challenge faced by the construction industry is that it is rarely seen that any construction industry is talking or discussing mental health issues. Offering mental health training to the workers can make them feel more energetic and better mental health. It would make them more comfortable working in their respective organization.
- Better Understanding in Them– It is essential to understand and empathize with those experiencing mental health issues. Mental health training can help in fostering understanding among the entire group of workers. It can lead to providing them with some relief despite the mental health issues they are facing.
- Making Employees Happier and Healthier– The organization’s mental health programs can help make the employees happier by reducing their stress and frustration levels. Thus it helps them be healthier both physically and mentally. It would lead to the smooth functioning of the organization with their projects running smoothly and productively.
- Empowerment of the Employees– It is often seen that providing someone a time and actively listening to their problems can give a sense of relief to them. It can help them pour out their negative emotions and frustration, providing a sense of comfort to them. But the employees or the organization’s workers should be empowered to offer a helping hand to someone in distress. It can be done with the help of mental health training.
Using Technology to Provide Some Relief to the Mental health Worker
Many people are seen to be not realizing their actual limits, after which mental breakdown starts happening. They stretch themselves higher than their essential physical and mental capacity by working overtime without a suitable break. The use of technology can be beneficial to make the workers and employers understand their actual working capacity and work accordingly. It would allow them to take a proper amount of rest which can be very helpful in improving their mental health condition.
