Partnership of Safety, HR + Operations Focuses on Helping People by Removing Mental Health Stigma

McCarthy Holdings, Inc. has announced a new integrated approach to breaking the stigma surrounding mental health to better meet the needs of employees, the craft workforce and their families.

Designed to create more discussion around mental health awareness, acceptance and treatment options, the initiative establishes collaborative strategies and practices across McCarthy’s safety, human resources and operations teams — all under the umbrella of the firm’s Build for Life health and wellness program.

As part of the expanded outreach, McCarthy’s integrated team developed new and updated materials, resources and tools to emphasize and support mental health awareness on jobsites and in offices. Materials are available at any time through the company’s intranet and include toolbox talks on mental health, suicide prevention and signage to increase awareness. Helpful information is also available for all employees and families through the company’s employee assistance program.

On jobsites, McCarthy is distributing hard hat stickers to all employees with important contact information and conducting meaningful discussions with all teams about the company’s approach to mental health, as well as immediately available resources. The expanded program — which complements McCarthy’s current digital and telemedicine mental health services and peer-support services — is just a beginning. Future plans range from adding more support, resources and training for managers and employees to considering an evidence-based mental health crisis response system. As an established member of Construction Safety Week, McCarthy will also actively communicate these resources in support of holistic safety during this industry event in May.

Rather than being a stagnant program that is rolled out and reviewed annually, the company intends to proactively evaluate resources to ensure needs are being met to help employees and their families understand and take advantage of resources available to them.

In addition, because McCarthy recognizes that mental health challenges are not exclusive to construction and sharing information benefits everyone, the company is offering to share with companies or organizations in any industry details about its approach and methods, along with posters and toolbox talk materials.