Behind the High-Vis: a Mental Health White Paper has been created by On The Tools, and supported by Band of Builders, Construction Sport, Dulux Academy, Dulux Select Decorators, Speedy, and TVL security, with useful input from other partners and case study participants, to explore the full scale and impact of mental ill health in the construction industry, as well as make informed recommendations to reduce the issue.

Timed to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week, Behind the High-Vis: a Mental Health White Paper highlights the particular prevalence of anxiety, the theme and focus of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, with 62% of UK tradespeople surveyed reported experiencing anxiety.

Those impacted

The white paper highlights that age, trade type, gender, length of employment and level of seniority can affect the likelihood of a tradesperson experiencing mental ill health. Half of UK tradespeople surveyed who have experienced mental ill health have mid-level positions and 100% of UK general builders/multi-trades surveyed reported experiencing depression and/or anxiety. Of the UK tradeswomen surveyed, 28% were more likely to experience mental ill health than their male counterparts.

The causes

The most common factor that directly impacts a tradesperson’s mental health is their own finances, with 65% highlighting it as a contributing issue. The research also found that trade-specific factors, such as lone working, impacted a tradesperson’s mental health. In particular, the findings show that 84% of tradespeople who lone work experience mental ill health, predominantly depression and anxiety.

The effects

The most frequent symptom experienced by UK tradespeople surveyed is low motivation; 69% of UK tradespeople surveyed reported experiencing low motivation as a symptom of their mental ill health and 64% of UK tradespeople surveyed reported misusing drugs, alcohol, or both drugs and alcohol in an attempt to mitigate these symptoms of mental ill health.

One anonymous survey participant said: “I felt like I didn’t want to eat, so I struggled because I had no energy. Then I wouldn’t sleep well. I’d get slower and slower. The standard of my work dropped. I just didn't want to be there.”

The report also explores the effects of mental ill health beyond tradespeople themselves with economic repercussions. On The Tools found that absenteeism due to mental ill health costs the construction industry almost £2.75 billion annually. Combined, the UK tradespeople surveyed had missed 2,631 weeks (equivalent to 50 and a half years) of work in 2022 due to mental ill health.

The support

Just under half (47%) of UK tradespeople surveyed reported they felt either somewhat or completely unsupported by their workplace(s) when experiencing mental ill health. Comparably, only 28% stated they felt somewhat or completely unsupported by their workplace(s) when they were experiencing mental ill health.