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St John Ambulance launches Hi Vis Stress Vest campaign and new mental health first aid course.

St John Ambulance has launched a campaign to get construction workers to open up about their mental health after new research found nearly seven in 10 have suspected a colleague was seriously depressed but felt it too difficult to talk about.

Such is the taboo around the topic that 71 % of research respondents admitted to giving their employer a different reason, such as a physical illness, for taking time off for mental health. Nearly four in 10( 39 %) would rather quit their job than tell someone at work.

The health charity has released the stark findings as it introduces a mental health first aid course that uses real-life scenarios to train workers to spot hidden signs, start difficult conversations and create workplaces where colleagues feel safe to share their problems.

It hopes to kickstart these vital conversations by sharing limited edition‘ Hi Vis Stress Vests’ with construction companies and celebrities including TV builder Tommy Walsh and construction entrepreneur Daniel Ashville Louisy. The back of each high-visibility jacket features a statement, such as‘ No-one will miss me when I’ m gone’, to express some of the invisible mental distress that many builders don’ t feel able to talk about.

The research of 500 construction workers also revealed nearly a third, 31 %, describe their current state as‘ struggling’,‘ overwhelmed’ or

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