Mental Health In Construction? A Building Worker Speaks Out!

Chadwicks and ex ireland footballer, Ritchie Sadlier, have teamed up to campaign on mental health in construction. While any focus on worker mental health is to be commended, what will it achieve that hasn’t already been achieved by the various initiatives introduced by construction companies themselves?

In short, not alot!

Aside from bringing attention to the issue, I wouldn’t expect much more. The problem is that we already have mental health initiatives, doing exactly the same thing, TALKING about mental health in the industry. But what we really need is action.

Unfortunately, most of the initiatives surrounding construction are just noises, used to placate the target audience. Whether its a policy announcement regarding targets and production, or the mental health of workers? Its really all just wind and piss, a band aid placed over a gaping wound!

Construction is run in such a way, that the one thing it doesn’t struggle to produce is serious mental health issues for us workers. In fairness much of this comes from the stigma attached to doing the job and much of that stems from beyond the building site.

Construction and Extraction carries a high risk of suicide due to physical strain, isolation, and job instability. The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates, with 56 male suicides per 100,000 workers, compared to 32 per 100,000 in the general working population.

The construction sector accounted for 10 of the total 58 to 61 work-related deaths across Ireland in 2025. More construction workers die each year to suicide than workplace accidents. Even if you make it through a working life without an accident your body is battered and broken.

You’d think they would be taking real action on it. We have rules on health and safety but if you add all the deaths from falls, trench collapse, electrocution, plant, it barely compares to numbers of workers lost to mental health and suicide.

We need action, not words!

Before many of us ever enter the building site gates we’ve already been written off by a sizeable portion of society. “You’ll never amount to anything!” Or, “All your good for is the building site”, that’s the kind of shite many off us heard before we’d left the school yard. Way to build up our confidence folks!

Then you have the clients playing tradesmen against each other to cut the cost, additional works they don’t want to pay for, late payments, non-payments, unreasonable demands and unrealistic expectations and all for the bottom line possible. This adds to the stress of an already demanding job.

It hardly inspires us to continue in the trades, it’s one of the major reasons, most won’t bother going out on there own.

On the larger sites, you’re no better off. Unrealistic targets, farcical organisation, inept management, financial constraints, job insecurity, inadequate benefits, bogus self-employment……the list goes on and on.

On one hand they lecture you on safety, health and well-being, while on the other they destabilise employment, fight for stagnation of wages, diminish our benefits and push for increased production. Watch your mental health, but work harder for less!

All the while the pool of available workers disappears quicker, than the architects of disaster, after yet another planning fuck up.

(Side note: management inefficiency is driving up the cost of building at a currently unknown cost. Millions lost each year/project to well educated, practicality bereft individuals, with more clout, than knowledge.)

Outside of the site, construction workers are faced with the same cost of living, housing, health and education issues, that every worker faces. We have the additional problem of the physical toll this takes on us and our dependence on the ability of our body’s to hold up under the strain.

Many nights, I’ve laid awake worried if this latest ailment or injury, could signal the end of my days on the tools. How will I make ends meet? How long till my next job? How long will that last? Where will it be?

None of the above will be resolved by a well meaning sound-bites, or initiatives from bosses and celebrities. None of the above will be addressed by the industry big wigs and nothing will come from government to drive the changes needed.

Our government are in the pockets of the Construction Industry Federation and the CIF are only interested in money, anything else is just window dressing. Your mental health is of no concern, if it was, the industry would be facing recruitment and retention issues.

The solution? Don’t expect those who create the problem, to provide the solution. There’s only one way to sort out workers health and wellbeing. Put workers in charge of it.

Our unions have sat on there hands for long enough, its time they did what the subs pay for. Get on it lads, or get out the fuckin’ way!

To anyone suffering from mental health issues, don’t suffer alone. There are organisations there to help. Just Google search your local support group and contact them for assistance. Alternatively, checkout the aforementioned Ritchie Sadler and Chadwicks article for details on the initiative.

Ultimately, we need a building industry run by the workers. That’d do more for our mental health.