By Site Safe communications advisor Jonathan Guildford
Mental health issues are rampant in the construction industry, with the sector losing one person on average a week to suicide — the highest rate of any industry in New Zealand.
As custodians of health and safety for the industry, Site Safe NZ is dedicated to doing all it can to influence and create a positive change in the health and safety culture of New Zealand’s construction sector.
Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 marks a successful 18-month partnership with Hato Hone St John delivering Mental Health First Aid in Construction courses to the industry.
The course, which is run in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, helps learners build mental fitness as well as enables them to provide initial support to others in construction-specific situations.
When construction site manager Joe Hodgson was booked into the St John Mental Health First Aid in Construction course, he did not expect it to have such an impact on his personal life.
For several months, Joe’s wife was fluctuating between being happy and bursting into tears, and verbal outbursts were frequent, he said.
“When she’s lashing out at you it’s hard not to bite back. I think I did it a few times not realising that there are other underlying issues.”
It turned out that she, like 1 in 5 adults aged 15 years and over in New Zealand, was diagnosed with a mood or anxiety disorder — in this case, depression.
“She got diagnosed with depression the day I was doing the course. From about February onwards we’ve been dealing with things at home and not really knowing that much about it.”
But doing the mental health and first aid course changed all that, he says.
“It really opened my eyes up and I could totally relate — and now I fully understand what people go through.”
He said it was important more people within the construction industry improved their knowledge of mental health, especially those like himself who have been in the industry for several decades.
If you’d like to be an advocate for mental health awareness you can sign up for Site Safe’s MHFAC course here: http://www.sitesafe.org.nz/training/our-training-courses/mental-health-first-aid-in-construction.
