International Men’s Day is an annual event on 19 November that highlights the positive contributions of men while simultaneously bringing awareness to men’s wellbeing issues.
This year the theme is ‘Zero Male Suicide’, a topic that has become increasingly important to discuss within the construction industry.
The necessity of addressing this was revealed in a recent study where it was found that the suicide rate within the construction occupation rose to 33.82 per 100,000 in 2021, compared with 25.52 per 100,000 in 2015, a figure found in a joint collaboration between Glasgow Caledonian University and the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity.
Year-round, we are committed to ensuring all our staff feel valued, supported and listened to (read more). We launched our GMG Listeners project to ensure this was the case, where two of our colleagues were trained as Mental Health First Aiders.
As part of this training, Quantity Surveyor Daniel McGinn and Junior Quantity Surveyor Elis Cappie undertook courses including ‘Steps to mental wellbeing’, ‘Coping with stigma’ and ‘Signs of suicidal thoughts’. On International Men’s Day, we are taking the opportunity to encourage all our workers who may feel they need support to reach out to their Listeners.
At our core, we believe that our people are our company, and ensuring they are invested in and feel supported is key to creating a thriving company and industry as a whole.
GMG Contractors Ltd is an award-winning employer, being the first construction company in Scotland to achieve Investors In Young People status and the Gold Standard in training, as well as the first SME construction company in Scotland to achieve the prestigious Platinum accolade by Investors in Young People.
Discover more about our team, our ongoing training for the future and our careers and latest vacancies.
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