THE Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Barratt and David Wilson Homes North Scotland, and Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) have collaborated on a new suicide prevention training programme tailored to the Scottish construction industry.
The project, called ‘Suicide Prevention in Construction Training’, has been made possible through £239,000 of funding awarded by CITB’s Industry Impact Fund (IIF).
Statistics show that construction workers are four times more likely to die by suicide than any other profession.
The programme, designed for the unique pressures faced by construction workers, aims to equip companies and individuals with the tools necessary to identify colleagues facing mental health challenges and provide meaningful support.
The initiative includes role‑specific training and resources tailored to the realities of construction work, focusing specifically on:
- Breaking stigma and encouraging open conversations
- Helping colleagues recognise warning signs
- Building confidence to have safe, supportive conversations
- Providing clear pathways to support and post‑incident care
The programme is being delivered by the SAMH training platform. The official launch place at the CITB conference in Perth last autumn, with the training rolling out over two years. The initiative is piloting within Barratt Homes and then expanding to other CITB member organisations. The longer-term view is to scale across the wider construction industry.
Vanessa Freeman, CITB head of grant & funding products, said, “We’re proud to be supporting such an important initiative for the construction industry. We believe the programme will play a vital role in tackling mental health challenges in construction.
“The industry still has a lot of stigma and too often people in construction feel like they can’t talk about their mental health issues. It’s imperative we improve the poor understanding of mental health in the industry because suicide prevention isn’t just a wellbeing issue – it’s an industry responsibility.”
Kevin Urquhart, construction director at Barrett and David Wilson Homes, added, “Everyone involved in the project believe this to be an important step towards breaking down the long-standing stigma around this issue across the industry. We can all say that we want to progress things, but without funding and without the support of someone like CITB within the industry, I don’t think the project would have got off the ground.
“I’ve said it from day one, if we save one life and we save one person, then you can’t put a price tag on someone’s life. So, we’ve done what we needed to do, and we are going to change the industry.”
Find out more about CITB’s Industry Impact Fund, and how to apply, on the CITB website.
