Mental health awareness has moved a long way in construction.
More people are talking about it. More organisations are investing in training. More workforces now have access to mental health first aiders, champions or peer supporters.
That progress matters.
But in this episode of Build and Thrive, host Stuart Mace and Paul McGregor, founder and CEO of Everymind at Work, ask an important next question:
What happens after the training?
Because training people to have difficult conversations is only part of the picture. Once those people become a visible workplace role, with colleagues directed to them for support, organisations have a responsibility to ensure the system around them is safe, useful and properly managed.
As Paul McGregor explains, Everymind at Work focuses on what he calls “support for the supporters.”
That phrase sits at the heart of the episode.
Paul talks about working with businesses that have trained large numbers of mental health first aiders, including construction organisations with hundreds of people in those roles. The intention is usually positive. The challenge is what comes next.
Many organisations, he explains, have limited data. They do not always know what conversations are happening. They may not know how confident their supporters feel, what they are being exposed to, or what additional help they need.
That creates a gap between good intentions and good practice.
More is not always better
One of the strongest points in the episode is the challenge to the idea that success is measured by the number of people trained.
Stuart reflects that, in some organisations, mental health first aid has become almost like a badge of honour. The bigger the number, the stronger the commitment appears.
Paul offers a different view.
Using one construction example, he explains that an organisation had around 450 people trained in mental health first aid, but lacked the data, visibility and structure needed to understand how the network was working. Everymind at Work helped them reset and relaunch a smaller, more focused group.
The message is clear.
Quality matters more than volume.
If a business has hundreds of trained supporters but no clear process, no ongoing development and no way to understand what is happening, the number alone does not prove impact.
For construction, this point is particularly relevant.
The industry is used to rigour around physical safety. Roles, responsibilities and risk controls are part of the everyday language of construction health and safety. Yet when mental health support is brought into the workplace, the same level of structure is not always applied.
That is where Stuart’s perspective becomes especially important.
He makes the point that mental health first aid training may be useful in society, but once it becomes part of a working environment, it is no longer just informal help. It becomes connected to the workplace duty of care.
The risk to mental health first aiders
This episode does not argue against mental health first aid.
Both Stuart and Paul are clear that more people understanding mental health is a good thing. The concern is what happens when trained colleagues are given a role without enough support around them.
Paul gives a personal example. After losing his dad to suicide in 2009, he wanted to become a Samaritan. He explains that he did not make it past the first stage of the assessment process because it would not have been safe for him, the person in crisis, or the organisation supporting that conversation.
He uses that experience to make a workplace point.
Good intentions are not enough.
People who have their own lived experience may be deeply motivated to help others, but that does not mean organisations can assume they are ready to carry out difficult conversations without structure.
Paul McGregor says:
“More people need training about mental health. That’s not what we’re arguing about. The problem is, when they become a nominated mental health first aider or a nominated champion, they need to have some more support and structure in place.”
That distinction matters.
Training gives people skills. A workplace role gives them responsibility. Those are not the same thing.
If organisations are asking people to hold conversations about distress, stress, trauma or safeguarding concerns, they need to think carefully about the foreseeable risks to those supporters.
Stuart makes this point strongly. He talks about the need to understand what mental health first aiders are being exposed to, and questions how many organisations are doing enough to prevent harm to the very people they have asked to help.
Awareness has grown, but capability is the next step
For many years, workplace mental health messaging has focused on speaking up.
It is okay not to be okay. Talk to someone. Ask for help.
That message has value. It has helped reduce silence. It has made conversations more possible.
But Paul argues that awareness alone is no longer enough.
Paul McGregor says:
“I think you’ve done a lot of awareness, but the outcomes aren’t changing, they’re getting worse. We need to look at capability a lot more.”
That is one of the key takeaways from the episode.
If people are encouraged to talk, organisations need people who are equipped to respond. They also need clear pathways for what happens after a conversation takes place.
Otherwise, the risk is that someone speaks up, but the person listening does not feel confident or capable enough to handle what comes next.
For construction businesses, this is a practical issue.
The sector has complex working environments, pressure around programmes, long hours and layers of responsibility across sites, offices and supply chains. If mental health support is treated as a simple signposting exercise, it may miss the work-related issues sitting underneath the conversation.
Work is showing up in the data
One of the most useful parts of the episode is Paul’s discussion of the data Everymind at Work is seeing through its platform.
He explains that, across almost 8,000 logged conversations, around a third were linked to work-related issues. He also says that just under half of conversations were “chat only”, meaning the supporter felt the conversation had been contained without signposting. In addition, he refers to safeguarding concerns being logged on the platform.
These insights challenge some common assumptions about workplace mental health support.
If many conversations are about work itself, training cannot be generic. Supporters need to understand the workplace context. Organisations need to look at what is driving stress, not simply send people elsewhere once they raise an issue.
Stuart connects this to psychosocial risk and the importance of tackling root cause.
He makes the point that a stress risk assessment should not end with a survey. If a risk is identified, the organisation needs to decide what it is going to do about it. That means consulting with the workforce, understanding the hazards and putting suitable controls in place.
Mental health first aid, by itself, is not a control for poor work design.
A listening culture is not a substitute for action.
Surfacing issues is not creating them
Some organisations are still nervous about what they might uncover if they collect better information around workplace mental health.
The familiar fear is that opening up conversations will create more problems.
Paul challenges that directly.
Paul McGregor says:
“We’re not creating these issues. We’re just surfacing them to the top.”
That is an important distinction.
If people are already experiencing stress, struggling with workload, dealing with difficult workplace relationships or facing safeguarding concerns, the issue exists regardless of whether it is visible to senior leaders.
A lack of data does not mean a lack of risk.
It may simply mean the organisation does not yet have a safe and structured way to see what is happening.
This is where data can become a powerful tool. Not as surveillance, and not as a way to identify individuals, but as a way to spot patterns, understand themes and act earlier.
For construction, that could mean better visibility across projects, locations or teams. It could help organisations understand where additional training is needed, where risk is building, or where work-related stress is appearing repeatedly.
HR and health and safety need to work together
Another important theme is the gap that can exist between HR and health and safety.
Stuart reflects on how these functions often speak different languages. HR may talk about culture, engagement and employee experience. Health and safety may focus more on risk, control and compliance.
Both perspectives matter.
The problem comes when they are disconnected.
Workplace mental health sits across both areas. It is about people, culture and support. It is also about risk, duty of care and preventing harm.
Paul recognises that many compassionate people in HR are being asked to carry responsibility for wellbeing across thousands of employees, often with limited budget and limited ownership across the wider organisation.
The episode makes a clear case for shared responsibility.
If mental health is only seen as an HR benefit, it may never get the operational attention it needs. If it is only seen as a compliance issue, it may miss the human reality of what people are experiencing.
Construction needs both.
People first is not soft
Towards the end of the episode, Paul talks about what he would change if he had a magic wand.
His answer is simple: putting people first.
That may sound broad, but in the context of the conversation it becomes very practical.
Putting people first means understanding the real cost of sickness. It means looking at the support networks already in place and asking if they are safe. It means recognising that employees are not separate versions of themselves at work and at home.
Stuart makes this point when he reflects on being told, earlier in his working life, to leave emotional baggage at the door and be a different person at work.
His view is clear. People are whole people, and work is part of life.
That matters for future generations too.
The conversation touches on how younger workers may have different expectations of work, purpose and culture. They may be more willing to ask difficult questions and less willing to accept old assumptions about professionalism or silence.
For construction, this is not a side issue. It is part of the future of the workforce.
If the industry wants to attract and retain people, it needs to create workplaces where people can be safe, supported and heard.
Key takeaways
- Mental health first aid needs structure. Training is only the start. Organisations need a clear system around peer support.
- Supporters need support too. Mental health first aiders can face difficult conversations. They need guidance, debriefing and ongoing development.
- Quality matters more than quantity. Big numbers do not prove impact. The network needs visibility and a clear process.
- Work-related issues matter. If people are talking about stress at work, organisations need to look at what is causing it.
- Peer support is not a sticking plaster. It can help people talk. It should not replace action on root causes.
- HR and health and safety must work together. Workplace mental health cuts across both areas. It cannot sit in one department alone.
Listen or watch the full episode of Build & Thrive to hear the complete conversation with Paul Mc Gregor and host Stuart Mace.
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Thank you to GKR Scaffolding for sponsoring the Build & Thrive podcast and supporting our mission to improve health and wellbeing across the construction industry.
At Construction Health & Wellbeing, we help organisations create healthier, happier, and more sustainable workplaces.
Contact us today to learn how we can support your strategy.
Learn more about the people and organisations mentioned in this episode:
Stuart Mace: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartmace/
Construction Health & Wellbeing: https://constructionhealth.co.uk/
GKR Scaffolding (sponsor): https://gkrscaffolding.co.uk/
Paul McGregor:
Everymind at Work:
- Website: https://everymindatwork.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everymindatwork/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everymindatwork/
- X: https://twitter.com/everymindatwork
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/everymindatwork/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm2D3TwiJAadtG_2X1BZwDw
