Help Inside the Hard Hat, the latest awareness campaign from the Lighthouse Construction Charity goes on tour on 7th February for a week, to raise awareness of the charitable support services available to the construction industry, allied trades and their families.
With the mission that “No construction worker or their family should be alone in a crisis” the tour aims to deliver the message directly to frontline workers along with information about the crucial services that the charity provides.
The five day tour will visit various locations across the Midlands from 7th-11th February. The charity is asking companies and sites to contact them if they would like a visit from the ‘Hard Hat’ tour team to deliver the charity’s messages directly to those that might need support and there will also be a great range of prizes and freebies up for grabs.
The tour will be hosted by three familiar faces in the construction industry media and loyal supporters of the charity, Andy Stevens, Rob Muldoon and Matt Dunleavy. Their down to earth, relatable approach and first hand life experiences are a winning combination sure to make the tour a huge success.
Bill Hill, CEO of Lighthouse Construction Charity says, “There is a marked increase in suicides within the trades, machine operators and our unskilled labour force. Over 50% of this workforce are either self employed, agency workers or on zero hour contracts and are often part of the sub contracted labour force on our construction sites. This suggests that communication about the support services we have available are simply not getting through to these workers and they are the ones that need us the most”.
In the UK, two construction workers take their own lives every working day and stress, anxiety and depression account for a fifth of all work-related illnesses. The charity’s Help Inside the Hard Hat campaign has already helped to raise vital awareness of poor mental health within the industry. Over 35,000 posters have been downloaded and sites across the country have shared the campaign message on site hoardings. The campaign has also seen the Help Inside the Hard Hat message on vehicles, mobile working platforms and cranes.