By Dede Montgomery, Workplace Safety, Health, and Well-Being Consultant
Last fall, we shared ideas and practices to elevate worker well-being in the construction industry. If you missed that article, you might want to check it out: Elevating Well-Being in the Construction Industry. In its conclusion, we were reminded how fortunate we are today to have people and organizations paying attention to the challenges workers face, as well as potential solutions to improve work and worker well-being in construction and the trades. We also listed specific programs, such as the Total Worker Health Approach, GUTS, QPR, and Five Easy Steps. The purpose of Part 2, this article, is to share ideas from some of our most knowledgeable construction safety and well-being advocates and experts.
This article includes seven responses to the question: What is the biggest thing that positively moved the needle for worker well-being within your construction company, or companies you have worked with? We understand that all jobs, projects, and tasks are different, just as organizations have different cultures and goals. Yet, we know that some basic concepts hold true throughout most organizations. We appreciate the existence of safety and well-being leaders in our workforce community who have “walked the talk” and are willing to share their successful strategies with the rest of us.
Let’s examine these anonymous responses shared as tips below to the question: What is the most important “best thing” you’ve seen construction companies do to support their workforce well-being?
Tip 1: Listen to workers about what’s stressing them out on the job and find and share resources to support these needs.
“I’ve worked with lots of safety managers and the ones I admire the most talk to workers every day. They get to know them and build trust with them. This allows them to learn from the workers about what is going on out on the front lines and what resources they need to get the job done safely. When workers are stressed, it usually is a sign that the organization and production is stressed. The weakness of the organizational culture is put to rest on the backs of the crafts.” For example, as worries about COVID entered the construction workforce, hearing and validating concerns from workers and then putting evidence-based practices into effect, positively improved the work culture and workforce well-being.
Tip 2: Pay attention to the mental and psychological health of your workforce and create tools and programs that best respond to their needs. Reduce stigma surrounding mental health and mental health challenges.
“The most impactful program that I’ve seen work in action is providing identified and trained mental health first aiders out in the field who can be a safe harbor for people who are struggling with extreme stress or mental health. This responder has permission to be a kind and compassionate listener who also can refer people to professional, union- or company-sponsored resources to help them through a tough period. We have a long way to go in this department, but just having these onsite people has helped in taking a tiny chip out of the taboo of asking for help or openly talking about struggles on the jobsite. We’ve seen it save lives.”
Tip 3: Create a sense of belonging and community.
Loneliness is increasingly becoming a significant issue in our culture, and some folks feel they have less in common with families, friends, or communities. Feeling part of a community and a sense of belonging at work and with our co-workers is critical to each of our well-being.
Tip 4: Implementing our Suicide Prevention and Community Engagement Program (SPACE).
“Sending volunteers to QPR [question, persuade, and refer] training classes, and then rolling out training as part of our CPR/First Aid/AED training has demonstrated an amazing success. We have had hundreds of interventions with employees, some on the brink of suicide, others dealing with sadness and “hurt souls.” We were able to intervene and get them some help. The biggest element was implementing an “Employee Advocate” whose sole purpose is to help the employee navigate medical challenges to obtain the help they need. We contract that out to Nurse Works and a private contractor. It has been a wonderful, fulfilling, and huge success.”
This is equally important to our Spanish speaking workforce. Building relationships is the key. Having a process or outlet to communicate the concern with trust demonstrates that the company will show compassion and act in a helpful meaning way.
Tip 5: Building true psychological safety into your company culture.
While this term is thrown around frequently, not all organizations understand what it means and actually demand it throughout their workforce. While psychological safety should be emphasized as important as physical safety, it, too, requires attention in defining, demonstrating, and setting expectations.
Tip 6: Wellbeing in the construction trades expands rapidly when company leaders demonstrate bold leadership to visibly, vocally, and vulnerably support mental health and wellbeing.
To be most effective, we need to see the identification and priority of mental health and well-being be supported by all leaders of the organization, including at the top level or CEO. This will require awareness and functional training, resource allowance and provision, and expectation of supported behaviors. When the CEO (or the board of directors) identifies and expects something, other leaders will more commonly support it and expect it from those they supervise.
Recognize the importance of translating company resources to be both culturally responsive and linguistically accurate, demonstrating sincerity in communicating for understanding.
Tip 7: Create space(s) where workers can go, without any authorization by a supervisor, during work hours to deal with a mental or physical health issue. Whether it is to play a video game to unwind, talk with a peer about a challenge, stretch, or do another exercise.
Even while recognizing the tightness of schedule and differences within work environment, allowing workers the ability and flexibility to pay attention to personal needs especially during difficult times, is critical to our health. Having trust that we will appropriately use this flexibility builds into our own trust of our organizational culture and leadership.
Do these tips hit home with you? You may notice that none of the specific practices are what some may think of as wellness or health promotion tips, for example phone apps or yoga classes. We must still understand and recognize that different workers need and want different benefits or offerings. Options like gyms, healthy food, yoga, and meditation classes can all be important additions. We know that all those other wellness and wellbeing practices together can support our workforce. And yet, sometimes it is basic practices, such as the tips listed above, that most move the needle.
Do you recognize any of the practices or initiatives above to be present in your workplace? What might be there that you can grow? Is there one that seems most relevant to your organization or something your organization is or should be prioritizing? At the start of this new year, it’s time to plan ahead. And remember, there is plenty of knowledge and experience that many of our coworkers, colleagues, and friends are happy to share.