Band of Builders (BoB) has reported a 105.5% jump in messages to its text line in the last three months.
Hays, the construction recruitment specialist, joined forces with the charity 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 estates 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.
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.
According to a statement, 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.
Gavin Crane, BoB’s CEO, 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.
He said: “Hays is uniquely placed to take the mental health message to sites, and the fact that the number of messages to our text service has more than doubled in the last three months highlights the impact they are having in signposting members of the construction community to that all-important first step in asking for help.
“It’s vital to keep signposting where construction worker can get help if they are struggling with their mental health: they can text BOB to 85258.”