Don’t neglect training on mental health issues

The electrical sector needs to consider the benefits of on-going training and development and look beyond the technical to raise awareness of issues such as stress and mental health, argues Andrew Brister.

Training in the electrical industry takes many forms. In any technical discipline, it’s crucial that workers are skilled in their craft and the electrical sector is blessed with a robust apprenticeship framework which equips trainees with the necessary skills to meet the latest stringent technical standards.

However, it’s all too easy to rest on your laurels and not take training and education beyond the technical. For small business in particular, it can be difficult to find the time and money to equip staff with the softer skills in managing people, customer relationships and business development. Help is at hand from the likes of Certsure, NICEIC and the ECA who offer a host of short courses on business support and improvement, quality management and all-important health and safety.

Training is crucial for organisational development and its success and is fruitful to both employers and employees of a business. Training and development leads to increased productivity, less supervision, increased job satisfaction, improved staff retention and skills development. Of course, there needs to be a measurable return on investment of any training programme, and this should consider factors such as engagement, application and implementation and impact on the business.

Mental health and suicide

So is it worth investing in staff awareness of issues such as stress and mental health? Consider this: suicide kills six times as many construction workers as falling from heights, according to mental health charity Samaritans.
This startling statistic was unveiled at a recent seminar hosted and organised by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), the ECA and the CIBSE Patrons. “With the amount of energy being put into managing physical risk; you have to question whether the industry is getting the health and safety balance right,” said Samaritans regional partnerships officer Will Skinner.

Someone in the UK takes their own life every 90 minutes and there were 6,122 recorded deaths by suicide in the UK in 2014 of which 76% were men. This compares with 1,775 people who died in traffic accidents. Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 and the highest suicide rate is among males aged 45-59.

The main risk factors include depression and mental illness – which can often be brought on by a stressful working environment; money worries; drugs and alcohol. Skinner told the audience that men from poorer economic backgrounds are also 10 times more likely to die by suicide than men who are financially better off.

The seminar heard that depression and suicide was the “forgotten health and safety issue”. BESA chief executive Paul McLaughlin, who chaired the event, said 80% of employers in the building engineering sector recognised mental health was a major issue and was already having an impact on their businesses, according to a recent survey of BESA and ECA members.

“Both large and small companies share the same concerns, but many simply don’t know how to deal with this,” he said. “The first thing you have to do is acknowledge there is an issue, which is why we are now working with Samaritans.”

ECA director of business Paul Reeve said that sustained progress with mental health would require challenges to the current industry culture that, too often, “simply labels anyone with a mental health issue as weak”. He said “it won’t be easy, but we must challenge this sort of prejudice”.

The three industry bodies and Samaritans agreed that the seminar should be the start of a major initiative to address mental health issues across the building engineering sector including raising awareness and providing specialist training as part of health and safety programmes.

In for the skill

The ECA has warned of a looming skills shortage should the UK emerge from recession. While many electrical contractors do take on apprentices, there are not sufficient numbers coming through to fill the gap left by an aging workforce. The situation could well be made worse following Brexit, where European workers may not be able to work freely in the UK.

The government is aiming to increase the quality and quantity of apprenticeships in England, targeting three million apprenticeship starts by 2020. It aims to fund this through the introduction of a new levy on the largest businesses in England. Under the plans, only those businesses with a wage bill of £3 million or higher will be liable for the levy, at a rate of 0.5% of payroll.

Whether or not the three million target is achievable remains up for debate, yet there is no doubt that young people are increasingly looking to apprenticeships as mounting levels of student debt has made university less attractive to many young people than it was 10 years ago. A poll by the Sutton Trust found half of 11-16 year-olds who say they’re likely to go to university are worried about fees and living costs.

The electrical sector offers a vibrant and varied career with good earnings potential. Yet, young people need to know that this is a sector which takes care of its workforce and their well-being. The increasing awareness of stress in the workplace and the impact on mental health is to be welcomed.