Two Tradespeople Lose Their Lives to Suicide Every Day as Mental Health Crisis Deepens in Construction
Key Stats:
- 2 tradespeople take their own lives every day in the UK (Office for National Statistics, 2024).
- Construction workers are 4x more likely to die by suicide than the national average (ONS, 2024).
- 84% of tradespeople have experienced work-related stress, anxiety, or depression (IronmongeryDirect, 2024).
- 58% have never spoken to anyone about their mental health (Chartered Institute of Building, 2024).
Fix Radio’s Clive Holland, host of The Clive Holland Show, is calling for urgent action as new figures expose a worsening mental health crisis within the construction industry.
National helpline The Big Brew reports that one in three texts it receives are from construction workers contemplating suicide, with 80% of messages sent during the working week.
Clive Holland said the issue runs deep:
“There are several underlying reasons why the rate of suicide in the construction trades is so high. Firstly, there is a macho image in the industry and men are not brilliant at ‘opening up’. But I feel this is changing – slowly but surely. Secondly, there is a lot of stress involved in running a small business –long hours, few holidays, slow payers, and cash flow issues. Rising material costs, energy prices, and a worsening skills shortage have ramped up pressures even further. Many tradespeople will tell you they’ve never been this busy.”
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