A mental health check-in tool for construction

People tend only to seek help for their mental health when they have a crisis – but by that stage, problems can be complex and take time to resolve.

According to the World Health Organization, someone takes their own life somewhere in the world every 40 seconds. Building Mental Health reports that, in the UK alone, 2 construction workers take their own life every working day.

One Million Lives is a project developed by Jacobs in collaboration with global mental health professionals, with the name signifying the number of people in and around the industry and other sectors we aim to reach. It offers a free check-in tool – with options to do a quick check-in or a full check in – in the form of a web-based app to enhance users' understanding of their current state of mind and suggest proactive strategies for personal mental health development.

The mental health resources available from One Million Lives are provided by independent, non-profit organisation HelpGuide, and include information that empowers construction professionals and others to improve their mental health and make positive changes.

One Million Lives is not intended to diagnose, cure or prevent any condition; it simply seeks to alert people to potential warning signs, and encourage them to start conversations and look for support as early as possible.

Feedback showed how valuable users found that tool. Jacobs therefore began to explore how to make the check-in concept global, and include it in our Mental Health Matters strategy. This strategy has been embraced by our employees and had a significant impact on our culture.

Mental health is not an issue exclusive to the workplace, though, and we wanted to extend our offering to allow employees' family and friends as well as clients and communities to access the tool and resources externally. It's about putting mental health in everyone's own hands: gaining better understanding, accessing valuable resources, and eliminating stigma through active and positive conversations.

Since it was launched in December, more than 8,000 check-ins have been made on the tool. Users have responded positively, and it is being supported by Safer Highways, the HSE Global Series Foundation and industry charity, the Lighthouse Club. Jacobs is also currently assessing high-level data from the aggregated, anonymous check-ins to see what can be learned and shared.

The goal is to offer the check-in tool and resources as widely as possible across different sectors, partners, supply chains and communities to help them come together to tackle mental health on a global scale. By inviting people to check in routinely to see how they are doing, and encouraging their networks to do the same, the hope is that they will become more aware of their state of mental health.

Jacobs invites professionals and firms to use the tool and encourages others to do so by making use of the free campaign resources. Those interested in getting involved should contact Jacobs for more information.

So many organisations are adopting proactive mental health strategies: we hope that One Million Lives can be a worthwhile addition to their toolkits and strategies.