It takes more than a hard hat to protect a head

By Emma Peterson.

A recent Coffee Conversations panel explored the connection between mental health, physical safety and workforce success.

Last month, we got the chance to host a special Coffee Conversations webinar with Mandy McIntyre from Weatherproofing Technologies Inc. (WTI), Kara (Houck) McCaffrey from Houck Group, and McKay Daniels of National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) all about mental health safety in roofing.

When we asked this panel to explain the importance of mental health in the roofing industry, they had a lot to share, which makes sense given the trio’s backgrounds. Mandy is a mental health first aid instructor and has been integral to Tremco’s mental health initiatives. And Kara, in addition to being a third-generation commercial roofing company owner, is the board chair of Construction Suicide Prevention Week (which is hosted every September). And last but not least, McKay is the CEO of NRCA, where he has had the opportunity to help push the industry’s mental health support forward with the BeToughEnough campaign.

In response to our original question, Kara shared, “Mental health is an important part of safety and protecting a person's mental health can help keep them safe.” This connection between mental and physical health is something that is too often disconnected in our industry. As McKay put it, “If your head's not in the game, that creates consequences craftsmanship and physical safety...We work in a high-skilled profession, and people need to be focused and ready at work. If your crew is struggling mentally, that’s like having rocks in your pack that you're coming to work with. It all just compounds, makes everything harder and puts everyone at risk.”

And this goes the other way, too – physical risks and safety can directly impact mental states. As Kara gave an example, "It’s not just mental health impacting the safety side, but safety incidents impact the mental health side as well. If someone has a near miss and could have fallen off of a roof, they are left probably scared from that. And that traumatic impact could really impact their mental health.”

In these ways, mental and physical health cannot be disconnected from each other. And even beyond the individual, the mental state of your crew is directly tied to your business’ success. Mandy explained, “Aside from just the humanity importance of mental health care, it’s also risk mitigation for your company. The ROI on this is huge, every investment in mental health awareness has a $3-5 return in employee engagement, retention rates and recruitment statistics.”

At the end of the day, whether you look at it from a safety perspective, a teambuilding perspective or a business perspective, mental health safety must be prioritized. And prioritizing it doesn’t have to be hard. Mandy gave some tips, sharing, “Mental health is a legitimate safety concern and needs to be a part of every safety program. And the minimum is just doing a mental health toolbox talk once a month where you promote resources like 988 (suicide and crisis hotline) and create space for people to share. Just show your crew that you care and want to take care of them.”

Want to learn more about supporting your team’s mental health safety? Listen to the whole episode or Watch the recording!