PROTECTING MENTAL HEALTH IN TRADE INDUSTRIES
Protecting Mental Health in Trade Industries
I’m Riley Sullivan, a year 12 VCE-VM student at Korumburra Secondary College and I am currently completing a literacy class major project where I have chosen to focus on the importance of mental health on the jobsite. My main goal is to try and make it easier to start a conversation with a mate, or help start a conversation with a mate of your own that you think might be struggling, and normalize the feeling of depression and accepting that talking about your issues are okay.
Throughout my major project I have researched many websites about mental health in trades and on the jobsite. One of the websites I discovered was ‘MATES in Construction’ who have recently partnered with Australian and New Zealand company ‘Bunnings Wearhouse’ and promote for 110 other industries and companies around Australia. Whilst looking through the ‘MATES in Construction’ website I came across the TIACS website. TIACS stands for ‘This Is A Conversation Starter’ and they strongly focus on the acceptance of mental health issues experienced by tradies, truckies, rural workers and blue collar workers while also improving the their knowledge on how to start that conversation with someone who you can see is struggling. TIACS is also a free counselling service who can be contacted though a phone conversation or simply through a text message.
You can call or text TIACS for free via the Support Line Monday to Friday 8am-10pm AEST on 0488 846 988. One final way go access the TIACS website is via the ‘Trade Mutt’ work uniforms where you can find a QR code under your right chest pocket that takes you straight to ‘This Is A Conversation Starter’. Trade Mutt is the clothing company designed to support Trades on site with mental health through workwear that promotes opening conversations about mental health. Purchases of this workwear is one of the funding models for the work of TIACS.
I highly encourage anyone working in trades, or who has family in trades to open the conversation around mental health in the industry. The rates of suicide in trade sit higher than other industries and we are losing too many good people. We need to look after the community. The help lines below have great advice as well as access to support services.
MATES - Industry Based Suicide Prevention - MATES
