The Re-Balance Approach

Recognise.

A survey conducted by the UK's Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) of over 2000 construction industry professionals found that stress was the most common mental health issue experienced in 2020.

There are a number of contributing factors for those working on-site such as long hours, low pay, isolation from family and friends, poor living conditions, bullying, lack of job and financial security, all of which may contribute towards poor mental health if steps are not taken to lessen the impact or support not accessible.

Across the geographical regions covered in this research, construction has the highest proportion of suicides across all industries. Death by suicide statistics alone does not reflect the scale of the problem with an additional 26% of workers also having contemplated taking their own lives.

The challenging nature of work along with the demographic profile of the workers creates a high-risk environment for suicide. In the UK the risk of death through suicide is almost four times higher than the male national average (ONS). Meaning every working day, on average, two construction workers die by suicide.

The data centre supply chain team can improve and save lives by working together to innovate and lead on creating change across the sector globally, sharing learning on what works in practice, and establish a framework of standards that are achievable and will deliver long­ term sustainable change.

Review.

There is an opportunity for employers to identify the factors that are affecting the mental health of workers and to take action that will improve lives. The consortia of construction businesses that were involved in this project recognised that creating a mentally healthy environment is both the right thing to do and crucial for business prosperity. 

Re-Balance took a deep dive into key areas through 4 key instrumental phases:

Phase 1.
Conducted a rapid review of existing employee well-being and mental health programmes, initiatives, strategies and collated supporting data.

Phase 2.
Interviewed CEOs, Senior Leadership Teams, HR and Well-being Representatives to understand the culture, appetite for change, opportunities for growth, as well as any personal or systems blocks to creating a mentally healthy workforce.

Phase 3.
Designed individualised reports to each business. These reports assessed them against workplace mental health standards and provided a clear approach for their mental health and well-being strategy.

Phase 4.
Produced anonymised benchmarking report so that each company could see how they score within the consortia.

Respond.

Each company received their own detailed analysis report, identifying its individual scoring and position against the consortia.

Focussing on the opportunities identified in the gap analysis the Re-Balance Team provided each company with a clear road map, outlining how they can progress and improve against the Re-Balance elevator matrix to becoming a health creating company.

This report also used the combination of organisational data and qualitative data from interviews held with the company CEO and Wellbeing Leads and/or HR teams. Each company was mapped against a wide range of assessments and received a unique company score.

A final aggregated report, which combined all 12 global construction companies, was presented back to the collective CEO group and the data centre commissioner.

All 12 companies who took part are now utilising their report findings and clear guidance to influence and further develop their mental health and wellbeing strategy.