Supervisor relationships, peer support and mental health stressors in the Australian building and construction industry

Abstract

Mates in Construction (MATES) is a multi-faceted strategy developed in Australia to address suicide prevention in the workplace. MATES operationalized a workplace mental health framework consisting of five domains in 2019 in a move toward a broader systems-based approach to workplace mental health in the building and construction work environment. Using job demands-resources (JD-R) theory and a revised version of the People at Work Survey (PAW-Con), the objective of this study is to explore workplace mental health trends within the Australian building and construction industry with the aim of identifying areas of improvement required to mitigate psychosocial hazards at work. A quantitative method of analysis of reported job demands and resources of 1158 construction workers was used to establish correlation and means scores within the building and construction work environment. Industry means scores enabled comparison with existing safe valid mean scores utilizing established JD-R measurements. Data was collected from construction industry workers over a twelve-month period with the findings highlighting concerns related to supervisor conflict, peer support and job control as psychosocial hazards requiring industry wide improvement. Fly-In Fly-Out (FIFO) and Drive-In Drive-Out (DIDO) work environments demonstrated different hazards in procedural justice, role ambiguity and role conflict. This study demonstrates workplace mental health issues that require attention. Targeted training of supervisors and implementation of workplace plans to address areas of identified concern will reduce rates of mental distress, harm and suicide in a high-risk industry.