McLaren Construction is proud to support and take part in the ‘’Stop. Make a Change’’ campaign, promoting health and wellbeing within the construction industry.
The initiative was launched in 2017 to bring the industry together to improve health and safety performance. In its first year more than 60,000 people took part in stand down events.
Last year ‘’Stop. Make a Change’’ focussed solely on the infrastructure sector, but in 2018 the campaign has extended out to cover the wider construction sector across the UK. Taking place over two weeks, 16-27 April 2018, the campaign will focus on two key areas: mental health and plant safety.
McLaren Construction have arranged a number of mental health and wellbeing events on the sites, including Tai Chi classes, Plant Safety talks, Happy Monday incentive and Mental Health awareness talks.
Alan Blanchett, McLaren Group SHEQ Director said:
‘’We are happy to have signed up to support the ‘’Stop. Make a Change’’ campaign and help raise awareness on mental health and wellbeing within construction. The events we’ve already organised on our construction sites have proved to be very successful, receiving lots of positive feedback. I am pleased that we will continue on to organise these events on McLaren sites, making sure our focus is on the health, safety and wellbeing of all site operatives working on our projects.’’
Two of the leading charities in the construction sector, The Lighthouse Trust and Mates in Mind, are also backing up this campaign, focusing on mental health.
Lighthouse manages the Construction Industry Helpline to provide thousands of cards and posters that will be distributed to workers. The cards provide information on the helpline, providing them with support on mental health and wellbeing, as well as on financial, legal, tax and debt management.
Mates in Mind will provide free ‘’Manage the Conversation’’ training courses for managers, running from 24 April in London, Birmingham, Bristol and Newcastle.
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity commented:
“CECA are encouraging everyone that participates in Stop. Make a Change to make sure they have one of our helpline packs. The packs include posters for sites and offices and helpline cards that can be distributed to their workforce so that workers know where to turn to if they need support. Our helpline provides a free of charge, confidential 24/7 helpline safety net for all construction workers and their families in the UK and Ireland”.
Steve Hails, chair of Mates in Mind said:
“In workplaces across the UK, managers and supervisors are increasingly being approached by workers who are suffering with poor mental health. For many managers, this is a challenging prospect and they may be nervous about how to handle such a conversation. We are proud to support Stop. Make a Change, and to work with CECA to offer training for managers to be more confident in these situations”
Stop. Make a Change has been supported by CITB’s Structured Fund as part of Infrastructure 21, a Civil Engineering Contractors Association‐led project to help ensure that civils suppliers are primed ready for expected growth in the sector in the coming years.
To get involved, visit, www.stopmakeachange.co.uk, or to book a place on the ‘Manage the Conversation’ courses email enquiries@ceca.co.uk
To get your construction industry helpline pack, visit www.constructionindustryhelpline.com/products
