Category: People
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Forterra celebrates mental health first aiders
To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, building products manufacturer Forterra is highlighting the important role mental health first aiders play in the workplace. Across its UK sites, more than 45 employees have been trained as mental health first aiders, including pot machinist Ian Wagg (pictured above). Wagg, who also volunteers with the East Midlands Ambulance…
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How is construction addressing the mental health crisis?
“When I was at the [workplace mental health and wellbeing] Make a Difference (MAD) conference, we talked a lot about mental health in infrastructure,” says Catling, who has worked with infrastructure contractors and now has her own consultancy, ThinkOTB. View the original article and our Inspiration here
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Construction risks losing aspiring apprentices, Seddon warns
Contractor Seddon has revealed that 2,694 people applied for just 20 apprenticeship roles in its latest hiring round, highlighting the lack of placements for people keen to start careers in construction. The figures from Seddon mirror national concerns cited in the CITB Construction Apprenticeships report. According to the report, the UK needs 50,000 additional construction…
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Breaking the silence on mental health
The construction workforce is at risk if we don’t have more open and honest conversations about mental health. Content warning: this article contains references to suicide, ill health and surgery. There is a darkness plaguing the construction industry that many people don’t want to talk about. The challenges we face today are multi-faceted, encompassing personal,…
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Changes to skilled visa rules announced
The UK government has revealed its plan to reform the immigration system, including higher skills standards for graduates and workers. The immigration white paper, published today (12 May), outlines new requirements for employers to increase domestic training, which the government hopes will end the reliance on international recruitment. Titled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, the…
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A discreet onsite campaign to support mental health
More than 20,000 stickers with QR codes have been fitted on welfare cabins across the UK to help support mental health. Construction has a mental health problem. That’s not news. What is news is how little is done about it, especially in a sector where suicide claims more lives than falls from height. For an…
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more work to be done despite ‘positive shift’
Daisie Barnett, policy development manager at CIOB, said there has been a clear, positive shift in the amount of mental health support construction companies offer to their employees since the pandemic. She added: “Our research shows more than 75% of employees have been encouraged to get involved with awareness events like Mental Health Awareness Week,…
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Youth mobility scheme: an opportunity for construction?
The UK construction sector continues to grow, supported by increased investment in infrastructure and housing developments. With demand on the rise, the need for skilled labour is becoming more apparent. The CSN Industry Outlook 2024-2028 estimates that 251,500 additional construction workers will be needed in the UK by 2028 to meet demand. While vacancies have…
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New website champions black construction professionals
Diversitas has unveiled a new website to help promote and encourage increased leadership among black professionals within the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and across the built environment. The umbrella body was launched in 2023, with support from CIC under the direction of past chair Justin Sullivan. The new digital platform will provide a central hub…
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New website champions black construction professionals
Diversitas has unveiled a new website to help promote and encourage increased leadership among black professionals within the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and across the built environment. The umbrella body was launched in 2023, with support from CIC under the direction of past chair Justin Sullivan. The new digital platform will provide a central hub…