Stephen Reilly, Co-Founder & CCO of Fit for Work, is a chartered HR and Talent Acquisition professional and RL100 member.

Fit for Work helps keep your workforce safe and well by instantly connecting them with important project information and wellbeing resources on mobile. Deployable within days, their product empowers construction businesses to proactively manage their wellbeing strategies and remove any obstacles that prevent people from doing their best work, keeping the entire workforce informed and engaged.

In this piece, Stephen outlines the importance of protecting your organisation’s safety and wellbeing.

There are times when the course of action you need to take is clear

For example, a tragic on-site accident in 2019 escalated the urgency to create a solution for a client who supports work in a safety-critical environment. In this case, introducing facial-recognition-based technology allowed workers to quickly and easily check-in to confirm their location and ensure they weren’t operating in dangerous conditions.

A year later, a new problem arose, but there was no less ambiguity over the issue that needed solving. Covid-19 presented an unprecedented challenge to all businesses, including our partners in construction, staffing and facilities, whose workforce was highly mobile and distributed to multiple locations. In each case, the physical safety of every individual was paramount, and no one could afford the risk of either getting the solution or the timing wrong.

The need for rapid action was obvious

An ability to connect with your people wherever they are is no longer a nice to have. Every worker should expect their employer to give them the right tools to do their jobs effectively, and it’s no different when it comes to their wellbeing. The visible threat of a potentially dangerous working environment and the devastating impact of Covid prompted all of us to examine our approach to physical wellbeing in the workplace. As the cost-of-living crisis starts to bite, these issues are only becoming more complex. Every business has the responsibility to focus on its workforce’s mental wellbeing.

But for the construction industry, in particular, the make-up of the workforce itself raises a few questions – not least, is it your responsibility to support the wellbeing of contractors and agency workers?

The complexity of engaging multiple and diverse, distributed teams means it’s no surprise that many businesses haven’t yet successfully activated the policies and technologies that will reassure their people on the ground. But the technology exists, and best practices already exist for driving adoption among a workforce familiar with adhering to the rules and regulations of varying places of work. The first step is to guarantee you can connect with everyone, particularly when they often only have a mobile device with limited functionality in their pocket. Once you can successfully verify identity and location, you need to engage consistently with an easy-to-use application which can operate as a communication and learning tool.

Until now, investment in health and wellbeing has been dwarfed by other categories of construction technology, but with the workforce representing such a significant proportion of total costs, businesses have to adapt quickly.

There are many reasons why we should view implementing these processes with urgency. Most are ethical, but some reflect the reality of health and safety compliance. This year, every business in the construction supply chain has had to ensure they’re compliant with Health & Safety Executive spot-checks. Not to mention the practical implications of failing to mitigate the risk of illness – whether physical or mental – and the effect of resulting absences on the rest of the business. In an already challenging working environment, additional workload places even greater strains on those covering for absent colleagues, while shortages in the field can prevent the successful delivery of projects.

The time for action is now

Organisations must focus on connecting and engaging with their distributed workforce, providing two-way communication to protect the physical and mental wellbeing of those who often need it most. As you’re dealing with a highly mobile workforce with varied employment statuses, deliver a solution that makes it as simple as possible for them to engage – via their phones. And always make sure that they can access the information and resources they need to protect themselves and provides reassurance for themselves and their supervisors.

Wellbeing challenges are constantly evolving, so it’s critical to design practical solutions for the entire workforce, irrespective of whether responsibilities and budgets fall on different departments and teams. To reiterate, this is a business imperative because:

  • Happier people = better projects = less snags & reworks = improved margins
  • Getting to people before they need to take time off leads to productivity & efficiency gains
  • Creating a two-way conversation in real-time means workers and businesses can tackle issues when and wherever they arise.

Fit for Work has worked closely with thousands of frontline workers and supported businesses across the supply chain. We’ve consistently seen how those organisations that proactively manage wellbeing strategies for every worker – not just those in the back office – increase connections and engagement.

We’re on a mission to improve the working environment and give a voice to everyone, everywhere, so if you’re interested in discovering more, please get in touch.