Builders taking stress leave as 'toxic mix of pressures' plagues the industry
Saturday, 7 May 2022
Builders across the country are taking stress leave as the pressure of supply chains issues and mounting work build.
Eason Wei had been building in Auckland for construction company Harmony World Ltd for ten years when he was forced to take a week of stress leave earlier this year.
“This is first time I felt this,” the site foreman said.
He said he was constantly under pressure since the Covid-19 lockdown because of delayed projects, and a material and labour shortage, which meant there was lots of work to catch up on with short turnaround times and not enough hands on tools.
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He called the Gib shortage a “nightmare”, which was adding to the stress of builders all across the country.
Wei said there needed to be more support for builders and other tradesmen in the industry.
“Its part of the health and safety. It is not just a focus on the physical accidents, but also the mental issue.”
Trustee Building Wellness Taranaki and Location Homes managing director Campbell Mattson has been an advocate for mental health in construction for many years.
“I am seeing emerging anecdotal evidence of building contractors and in some cases their staff having to take time off for stress leave or in some cases simply quitting the industry to get away from the pressure as it has become unbearable.”
He said the ongoing and increasing supply chain disruption and continued inflation were creating a “toxic mix of pressures” that many companies, especially smaller operators with limited resources, were finding almost impossible to manage.
“It can become very difficult very fast.”
How people dealt with the stress differed, with some smaller operators finding themselves working 18-hour days to make it work, he said.
“Between updating pricing, managing cash flow, communicating moving project schedules to stakeholders and managing your teams workload between being overworked when everything comes online to standing idle when materials fail to arrive.”
The pressures builders were facing were likely to remain for some time and affect both business owners and their staff, he said.
“The risk currently facing us are chronic stress and pressure escalating from a situation of short-term low moods and anxiety to full a fully entrenched mental wellbeing crisis.”
A report by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on the impact of the pandemic on the building industry found it had caused rising costs, supply chain issues and difficulty in finding staff.
It led to project management issues and project completion delays, stockpiling, workers not being able to follow Covid-19 health and safety protocols, and workers completing tasks outside their skill set.
President of the New Zealand Building Industry Association Jack Jia said builders were desperate for the market to return to pre-pandemic normality.
“The New Zealand Building Industry is facing the most difficult time due to the impact of the Covid-19.”
Fast and good flow of logistics and transportation nationally and internationally, a fully open border, alternative building materials and more education for builders to comply with New Zealand building code and restrictions would help the industry and put less pressure on builders, he said.
“If the situation does not get better there will be more and more builders who will be affected and may be on stress leave,” he said.