Tips for builders: how to cope with stress on a construction site

Statistics show that the suicide rate for male construction workers is three times higher than the average male rate for the UK.Anecdotal evidence suggests that this overwhelmingly masculine and highly pressured industry is one where feelings are suppressed with banter, and the relentless push to get the job done, which is why Chris Fawcett has decided to focus on it.A freelance construction site manager, he is now a certified coach specialising in helping those in the building industry.Along with coping strategies, he also helps with career and life changes and progression using a variety of techniques including Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Timeline Technique Therapy.“The statistics around mental health issues in construction are frightening and I’ve seen first hand how challenging it can be on site. The hours are long, there is a lot of pressure with deadlines, you don’t always eat and drink healthily and it’s easy to get sucked into a negative outlook,” says Chris.“You’ll often hear the phrases ‘it’ll be right’ and ‘get on with it’, which leads to negative feelings being stored rather than dealt with.”

Think positive

He believes that the way to combat this is to look after yourself and overcome issues by having a clear vision of your future and a positive attitude towards life.“From a business perspective, a company’s success is built on the performance of its employees, so it’s vital they feel valued and inspired. Coaching can help bring out the best in people, helping them to grow and develop, become more productive and improve their emotional and mental well-being,” says Chris who offers one-to-one sessions for individuals and workshop days for businesses that want to support their staff.Here are Chris’s top tips for a successful day on a construction site. Many of them are universal and apply to us all. For more details on Chris’s coaching visit www.chrisfawcettcoaching.com

Top tips

*Morning routine. Allow yourself at least five minutes every morning to think about all the amazing things in your life, such as your family, house, car, pets, garden. Ideally, you should write these down as that helps you focus on what to be grateful for. Also write down your big goals for the day and why you have chosen them. Having a reason to achieve your goals is everything.*Exercise. Construction is often early mornings, late nights and can be strenuous on the body but exercising has so many positive benefits so all of us should be trying to do something. This doesn’t mean everyone needs to go and lift heavy weights, there are so many other options for exercise and some can be done at home. A 10-15-minute high intensity interval training workout three times a week over a six month period would have major benefits on a worker’s physical and mental well-being.Activities such as walking, swimming, cycling, spinning, yoga, football/rugby are all good and the list goes on. The main thing is that we have options. Not having enough time is not a good enough excuse any more. People like The Body Coach have revolutionised the fitness industry with quick, easy and nutritious recipes combined with fast and effective exercise.*A can-do attitude. Instead of saying “I can’t do that”, ask yourself “How can I do that?”. When we ask how to solve a problem, we start creating ideas and collectively we create even more ideas as a team. If you ask the question “why can’t I do it?”, your brain will continually search for reasons not to do it. Spend 90 per cent of your time on the solution and 10 per cent on the problem and life will become much simpler.*Food is energy. The quality of the food and drink we consume provides us with the energy for life. If this food and drink is of poor quality and is high in saturated fat, sugar, aspartame and contains colourings/flavourings, it will give us poor and unsustainable energy levels.We then produce poor results, which compounded over five to 10 years can really harm our productivity, reputation, quality of work and career.*Enjoy what you do. Construction is an intense industry with great pressures put on the workforce but we choose how we feel about every situation. We can choose to be sad or happy. If we try and enjoy our time at work, life can be transformed. Try to see the good in every situation. We spend on average 75 per cent of our waking day at work.*Believe in yourself. We all have potential to achieve but we put limits on ourselves. The construction industry has so much potential and so many talented people within it so believe in an idea, a plan, a strategy, a way of working or a new product. Think big. You can do it.*Night-time reading. Reading for 10-15 minutes before sleep can help switch the mind off from the day. Reading something positive, whether it be a feel-good book, an autobiography or a book on personal development helps to reduce stress, increase brain power, improve creativity and it has also been linked to a reduction in mild anxiety and depression.