Clive Holland comes from a background in construction, starting in electrical wholesaling and owning his own construction business. Holland then went on to have a successful media career, working alongside big names such as Lorraine Kelly, and various Sky channels. From there, he found his career in radio, which is how he discovered Fix Radio<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n “Initially, I wasn\u2019t looking to go into radio I sort of just fell into it \u2013 I turned it down a couple of times to begin with, but ever since then it\u2019s been great.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Since Holland started working for Fix Radio, he came across the huge problem of suicide in the construction industry.<\/a> He commented: \u201cAround March\/April time in 2019 and I got a call into the studio from a young man, and he said to me \u2018I want to tell you something, a story about my father \u2013 he committed suicide because he was under so much pressure that he took his own life\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember thinking, wow, this is weird \u2013 it was totally unsolicited, because I wasn\u2019t doing anything regarding that topic, but he just wanted to make that point to me. He told me that he took over the role of his father in the business, and within two years, he also felt suicidal.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as I started to dabble into [the issue], I realised just how high the suicide rates were. I just thought that this was crazy. Last year, the suicide rate was three times the national average. Why suicide exists in the first place \u2013 I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cI know a lot of people who have come back from the brink, and unfortunately, I know many people who have suffered. It\u2019s been quite a journey up to now, and it\u2019s actually why I started this radio show. I want to get down into the nitty-gritty, to understand more about why this just happens.\u201d<\/p>\n As a demographic, construction is a heavily male-dominated industry. In our culture, men are less likely to talk about mental health than women. In the construction industry alone, two construction workers take their own life every working day, and% of construction workers report that they knew someone in the trade who had been impacted by mental health challenges.<\/p>\n Clive notes that a lot of this is to do with the \u2018machismo effect\u2019, that as a collective, a lot of construction workers think: \u201cI\u2019m a geezer. I\u2019m struggling, but I\u2019m not going to tell anybody.\u201d I think when this occurs, mentally it\u2019s such a lot of pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n Clive tells us of a worker he knew who was struggling with mental health<\/a> and suicidal thoughts: \u201cI can give you an example, of a man who had been running his business for 11 years, and for those 11 years he had been struggling but not been telling anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was building up massive debt by taking out credit loans, loan sharks, all sorts of things like that. And he got himself five employees at the time, and he didn\u2019t want to tell those employees that he had got no work, that he couldn\u2019t employ them, and he was paying them using the payday loans.<\/p>\n \u201cHe kept them in work by having them clean the yard, doing work for his friends and family, and he didn\u2019t want to admit that he was in trouble, and he wanted to talk. His next step was suicide.<\/p>\n \u201cLuckily, in the early hours of the morning, and someone approached him while he was on the bridge, and just started talking to him. Doing this, he opened up, broke down and this person helped him to reach out. The business invariably went under \u2013 that was sad. Hopefully, those guys are back at work now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe pressures of them having a business in an industry like that is immense. A lot of us guys were great with our hands, but not so great with talking. It is getting a bit better now, but it\u2019s one of those things where the pressures come together.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Clive adds: \u201cI\u2019ve spoken to wives who have young children, who have husbands who come home in their mid-thirties and took their own lives. Then they lose their house and don\u2019t realise how much debt they\u2019re in. All I\u2019m saying is, let them spill the beans.\u201d<\/p>\n Luckily, there are great helplines out there that specialise in helping people suffering with suicidal thoughts, particularly in the construction industry. The Construction Industry Helpline<\/a> is a charity which helps families of construction workers who are going through difficult times offering services such as feeding families going through difficult financial situations and offering advice and support.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople see mental health as a sign of weakness. Not just in our industry by the way, but everywhere. I\u2019ve spoken to people who don\u2019t work in the industry who have already broken down.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n In our industry, especially over recent years where we\u2019ve had this huge increase in materials costs, a shortage of materials where we\u2019re having to deal with clients who question why contractors haven\u2019t been able to finish a job and working hard throughout the pandemic where friends and family have been able to work from home because the government, and all the targets that they want for housebuilding.<\/p>\n This has meant that construction workers have had to carry on, do the protocols the best they can without getting Covid, but still go to work every day. Additionally, their partner is probably either working from home or doesn\u2019t have any work to do and is getting paid for it on the furlough scheme. Therefore, they feel left out.<\/p>\n As the industry tries to attract more women into construction, we\u2019re facing another set of problems. We\u2019re struggling because it\u2019s a male-dominated industry, so it doesn\u2019t really seem appealing. I\u2019m born of seven older sisters, and they were always fantastic at talking. If they had a problem, they\u2019d talk about it and that got passed down to me. What I\u2019m worried about now is the women in our industry,<\/a> are they going to fall foul of the same problems, with having to put a fa\u00e7ade on, and adopting these attitudes towards mental health.<\/p>\n I think that company bosses should get their employees together at least once a month, to sit down and check in with everyone. It could be something that they\u2019re not happy with on a company level from the management or things at home in their personal life, but if we discuss these things as soon as possible, we can prevent things from building up and suicide from becoming an option.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing we\u2019ve got to be able to do is to recognise that when someone is suffering mentally, it could be something physical like for instance, you can\u2019t get out and about like you used to, and that can get you down.<\/p>\n \u201cAll it could take is for someone to make you a cuppa of your favourite brew. It\u2019s the small things. And this applies on-site, even the most tattooed and typically \u2018masculine\u2019 person can be struggling, and when they talk about it, it strengthens their mental wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n The pandemic came out of the blue and changed everyone\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n The government said to all construction workers that they had to keep on working, and then boilers broke down, electrics went wrong, plumbers had to come in for leaks etc. When you\u2019re coming into domestic dwelling, I\u2019m talking about the individual contractor, it could be a guy on his own, all of a sudden, he\u2019s got to build in all of these protocols where he has to make sure he\u2019s got the correct PPE before he enters someone else\u2019s house and that the homeowners understand that they\u2019re not going to come in without them understanding that same protocol.<\/p>\n However, I\u2019ve heard from many individuals who have said that the clients wouldn\u2019t follow the rules properly themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cWorkers are concerned, because they\u2019ve got to do the job because they need the money, so they\u2019re forced into a situation where the client won\u2019t follow protocols because they\u2019re not interested but they want them to do the job anyway.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n They have two choices then: to carry on and do the job, and take the risk, or they say they\u2019re not doing it and lose out on money and time. This is all adding to their stress, and they have to follow these protocols because they are the contractors and have to show that they are following government guidelines.<\/p>\n This stress is then carried on home, and people start questioning if they\u2019re in the right business. It\u2019s a phenomenal business to be in – we\u2019re stressing this a lot to teachers at the moment – to not teach students that construction is the last resort, that if you don\u2019t do well in school, you\u2019ll end up on a building site.<\/p>\n Whilst construction is for a certain type of person, the rewards are fantastic! To be able to run your own business as well is great once you\u2019ve got the skills.<\/p>\n We\u2019re encouraging people to come into our industry \u2013 we\u2019re heading towards a huge black hole by 2025<\/a>, because we haven\u2019t got enough people coming in. However, I also believe that before people come into our industry, they should have an evaluation of how mental health is managed before they enter, we could help this problem.<\/p>\n Back when I was in the industry, suicide was not a discussed topic. If we can get people moving more into the 21st century in terms of attitude, times are changing.<\/p>\n People need to understand that just a simple conversation can take a massive weight off your mind! That\u2019s why spreading the message is so important, because reading something like this, can reach a lot of people, and you never know, someone reading it just might need it, and it can save a life .<\/p>\n When you work with someone every day, you\u2019ll notice their personality. If that personality is changing, and there\u2019s a noticeable difference, you\u2019re more than likely to notice it. However, a lot of people notice these things and think it\u2019s better to not get involved, because when you do, you take on their caseload.<\/p>\n I get that, but just asking a simple, genuine \u201care you okay?\u201d can really make a difference. Make sure you\u2019re making eye contact, invariably, most of the time people will just brush it off and just say that they\u2019re fine, but the more you persist, the more that they\u2019ll open up to you.<\/p>\n It might be as simple as asking if they want to discuss it over a coffee, or a drink, and just letting them offload, and point them in the right direction if you feel like you\u2019re not able to handle it. That\u2019s stress in itself, taking someone else\u2019s stress on board!<\/p>\n It\u2019s so important having someone to talk to because it makes the burden of the problem lighter. And you might not know how to solve the issue directly, but you can always point them to someone who does or help them find out. That\u2019s the beauty of the internet because all that information of who to turn to is out there somewhere.<\/p>\n If you are struggling with your mental health and need professional support and advice, please contact the numbers below:<\/p>\n![\"construction](\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/DSC07935.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe suicide rate among construction workers is three times the national average. Why do you think that this is?<\/h3>\n
Why do you think that mental health is such a taboo subject within the construction industry?<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s the \u2018small things\u2019 that count<\/h3>\n
![\"construction](\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/DSC07972.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDo you think that the long-term impacts of the pandemic have acerbated the mental health crisis in construction?<\/h3>\n
\u2018A simple conversation can take a massive weight off your mind\u2019<\/h3>\n
What tips would you give to someone who was concerned about their colleague\u2019s mental health?<\/h3>\n