North Construction invests in mental health training.
You could have heard a pin drop at North Construction’s annual staff conference as Forsythes Training’s mental health trainer Craig Semple talked about his lived experience of mental illness says North’s Corporate Services Manager, Nicole Redmond.
Nicole says the 90 people in the room were captivated and there was a lot of head nodding. Craig talked about how he was an example of what goes wrong when you don’t pay attention to mental health issues in the workplace.
The first part of the presentation was about help seeking and the second part was Craig’s story of his battle with a workplace psychological injury sustained during his 25 year career as a Police Officer and Detective. Craig was involved in `high risk’ law enforcement including drug investigation, the investigation of outlaw motorcycle gangs and homicides.
Craig’s presentation was eye opening and inspiring
Weeks before the staff conference Craig delivered the two day Mental Health First Aid Course to a team of 13 from across the organisation. Nicole was a participant, along-side apprentices, leading hands, managers and shareholders. She says the timing of the events was deliberate and all 13 team members volunteered to do the course knowing they would benefit personally and at work.
The course gave us the tools to not only be able to recognise if someone, including themselves, is struggling, but also how to safely help them to get support.”
“Understanding the symptoms of different types of mental health issues is very helpful.”
“The role plays were very practical. We all walked away with the confidence to be able to ask questions of someone whom we think needs help.”
“In the course and conference Craig tailored the presentation to our industry which made it relevant to everyone. People got a lot out of both sessions.”
Nicole says North Construction engaged Forsythes Training for mental health training because it is an important part of the company’s work health and safety and risk management programs.
Safety is so important in the construction industry. We are always working to ensure people arrive at work and get home safely. But when we worked with Mates in Construction and looked at statistics on suicide in the industry we saw there were six times more deaths by suicide than by workplace accidents.
She says mental health training is vital for awareness raising as well as creating a help seeking environment at work.
“We are run like a family business and, as such, want to ensure our people are safe and happy.”
North Construction strives to be the builder of choice in the aged care, health, education and commercial sectors. It is based on the NSW Central Coast, with an additional office in Newcastle, and serves the Central Coast, Newcastle and Hunter Valley.
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