This October, a nationwide campaign will be encouraging firms in the construction industry to pause work and focus on health, safety and wellbeing.
The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) will be using their long-running Stop. Make a Change campaign to highlight 3 key health and safety risks in the civil engineering sector.
These risks are:
- Serious injuries and fatalities
- Serious work-related health conditions
- Mental health issues
The campaign has been running since 2017, with over 500,000 employers and employees taking part, and has received endorsements from across the sector, including from the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
It features free resources to provide practical support for companies operating in the infrastructure, construction and built environment sectors, as well as free events, webinars and learning opportunities.
Down tools for health, safety and wellbeing
The key principle of the campaign is that construction companies should temporarily down tools or halt work for a designated period (for example, an hour-long session) in order to engage their teams in critical discussions about health, safety and wellbeing at work.
Running throughout October, its aim is to encourage and help companies to protect their workforce, colleagues, and the general public.
The campaign will highlight key serious injuries and fatalities, targeting high-risk situations and identifying and controlling hazards before they cause severe harm. It will also focus on key health challenges caused or made worse by work which can be life-threatening or even fatal.
Finally, the campaign also explores mental health in the workplace, and particularly the mental health implications for those impacted by health and safety risks and failures, and their families, friends and colleagues.
Organisations who are participating in Stop. Make a Change (SMAC-26) can share their actions on social media using the hashtags #SMAC26 and #StopMakeAChange.
Training to protect health, safety and wellbeing
First Response Training (FRT) is one of the UK’s largest and leading national training providers.
They deliver a wide and diverse range of training for businesses and organisations across all industry sectors and throughout the UK. Their course range includes training in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, manual handling, mental health, food safety, health and social care and more.
FRT’s specialist mental health training courses include Understanding Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace, Managing Stress, Anxiety and Phobias Awareness, Self-Harm Awareness and Suicide Awareness.
They can also provide qualified, approved trainers to deliver accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training courses, including the Adult, Youth and Lite versions.
A trainer from FRT says:
“We believe in creating safer working environments with people who care. This is our vision and central to our services. It means providing training that helps to protect people’s physical and mental health, safety and wellbeing.
“Work-related health issues and mental health problems can impact every aspect our lives and also affect our families, friends and colleagues.
“It’s important to recognise the vital role that health, safety and wellbeing has in our working life and to ensure that mental health is treated equally to physical health. We should learn and share proactive and positive ways for managing, minimising and preventing poor mental health in the workplace and ensure that we regularly undergo essential training in health, safety and wellbeing across all organisations and industries.”
Helpful resources
A brief summary of our mental health training can now be downloaded as an infographic.
We also have a number of other free infographics available to download which provide simple tips for helping to manage your mental and emotional wellbeing and proactively manage your stress levels. These include:
You can also download our free Guide to Mental Health Training from our website.
For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.