Hays, a construction recruitment specialist, joined forces with the charity Band of Builders in October, taking the lead on visiting sites and reaching out to both bosses and operatives to discuss tackling the industry’s mental health crisis and signposting support that is readily available, free and easy to access.

In the last three months, the Hays team has visited more than 500 sites – with the company pledging to continue visiting more construction sites and estate teams in 2024.

The push to raise awareness has prompted a 105.5% jump in messages to the text line launched by BoB to help tradespeople and construction workers – a worrying number but evidence that more people in the sector are seeking help.

The latest figures from the helpline show that texts about depression, financial difficulties or relationship issues accounted for 52.9% of messages.

Thankfully, the number of cries for help from construction workers considering taking their own lives has decreased from 30.4% to 13.1% in the last three months.

The stats come at a notoriously worrying time of year, with a spike in calls and messages from people in construction seeking help – where the suicide rate is significantly higher than in other sectors.

BoB CEO Gavin Crane praised Hays’ commitment to taking the mental health message to sites as part of the services it offers to managers and candidates it places in temporary or short-term contracts.

The launch of the initiative was timed to coincide with World Mental Health Day in October, and all of Hays’ frontline staff have been visiting construction sites to discuss mental health with staff and to promote the work of BoB.

As part of the initiative, Hays has invested in BoB-branded merchandise, which is left at each site its staff visit to reinforce the message and signpost where mental health support can be accessed.

This includes posters that have gone up on site noticeboards and in canteens and are visible to many workers on site.