THE FOCUS ON MENTAL HEALTH – FIX RADIO’S CLIVE HOLLAND SPEAKS OUT

Following coverage of mental health problems within our industry in our last edition, we caught up with Fix Radio’s Clive Holland who regularly highlights the issue on his radio show and is a keen advocate for change.

Two workers lose their lives to suicide every single day (On The Tools, June 2025) with construction and trades workers almost four times more likely to take their own lives than the national average (Office for National Statistics, 2024).

According to a 2024 study, 84% of UK tradespeople say they’ve experienced work-related stress, anxiety or depression with 58% saying they’ve never spoken to anyone about their mental health, citing embarrassment, pressure to “get on with it” and fears over job security (Chartered Institute of Building, 2024).

Indeed, national helpline The Big Brew reported that one in three texts it receives are from construction workers contemplating suicide and that 80% of usage occurs during the working week.

Initiatives such as World Mental Health Day, held last October, cast light upon the issue and the need for urgent action according to Clive who started presenting with Fix Radio in 2017:

“This is an issue that genuinely took me by surprise on my first broadcast with Fix Radio with a caller raising an issue that we had to address. At the time we were losing one tradesperson to suicide and now it is two.

“Whilst construction has long been one of the most physically demanding professions, its equally punishing mental toll has gone unaddressed for far too long.

“There are several underlying reasons why the rate of suicide in the construction trades is so high. Firstly, there is a macho image in the industry and men are not brilliant at ‘opening up’ and discussing their feelings. I feel that this is changing slowly but surely.

“Secondly, there is a lot of stress involved in running a small business. There are long hours, few holidays, slow payers and cash flow issues. In the last two years particularly, we’ve seen these problems spiral.

“Costs of materials and spiking energy prices have squeezed margins even further. Couple that with the growing skills shortage which only ramps up extra pressures on daily site life. The pandemic has magnified many of these problems.

“On top of that there’s social media that can create additional pressures and problems.

“There are a growing number of places where people can go for help such as our own Fix Foundation and construction charity Lighthouse which has been supporting the industry for 70 years.

“We need people to talk about these issues in the cold light of day and I’ll continue to cover this issue through my radio programme,” added Clive.

Fix Radio, aka ‘the builders station’, is a national digital radio station in the UK that is dedicated to tradespeople. The Clive Holland Show is on Mondays to Thursdays, 12noon to 3pm, via a DAB radio or online at www.fixradio.co.uk