MEDIA RELEASE: 21 June 2023
Thursday, 15 June 2023: SuperFriend, a leading workplace mental health not-for-profit organisation, has announced key findings from Australia's largest workplace mental health survey, the 2022 Indicators of a Thriving Workplace. Critical insights and recommendations for Australia’s Construction industry were identified from the national study, which surveyed close to 10,000 Australian workers across 19 industries. For 2022 the Construction industry scored higher than the national average across all five core Domains identified as essential to fostering mentally healthy workplaces – Leadership, Connectedness, Safety, Work Design, and Capability. The survey scored industries against several psychosocial hazards – Inappropriate Workload, Low Recognition, Poor Change Management, Poor Management Support and Low Job Control. The Construction Industry again positively outperformed the national average on all hazards.
While comparatively high in Connectedness and Leadership, the Capability Domain score for the Construction industry was much lower. This suggests that workers may not have adequate access to the resources needed to support their mental health. As such, there is an opportunity for construction workplaces to prioritise providing the necessary resources and support for their employees
SuperFriend Chief Executive Officer Darren Black commented,
“The data indicates that the Construction industry has made gains in improving workplace safety and wellbeing across all Domains. The industry's Mates in Construction initiative, aimed at reducing the alarming rates of suicide among Australian construction workers, exemplifies the industry's commitment to improving wellbeing through community development programs and support for workers in need. By implementing proactive mental health strategies, the Construction industry can further strengthen its positive impact on the mental health of its workforce.” Said Darren.
This is the eighth year that SuperFriend has conducted the Indicators of a Thriving Workplace survey, and the 2022 survey introduced updated measurement tools to capture more factors influencing workplace mental health than ever before.
