NOT in the headlines

The absurdity of allocating a specific day to address the industry's constant problems.

The job of the journalist is to report that which is current; to capture the zeitgeist; to give voice to a topic or an issue that is currently of discussion or concern.

That’s how it traditionally works. But we have no time for tradition or convention. And so, rather than reporting on that which is in the headlines, today I am going to report on that which isn’t. In fact, if I were to hold up a mirror to the industry on this, the image would be precisely what Dracula sees during his morning shave. Nothing.

So in preparation for today’s article, I spent some time trawling through the self-aggrandising corporate Hellscape that is social media. All the usual suspects were there: the companies, their PR people; the “influencers”, the fascists, the conspiracy theorists, and those wading through the swamp-like ramblings in search of a job.

But I’ll tell you what wasn’t there. Any mention of the demolition and construction industry’s mental health and suicide crisis. Not a single, solitary post. No virtue signalling companies, no trade bodies riding the bandwagon, no charities calling for change, no individuals sharing their own experience.

Is it possible that we have belatedly stemmed the tide? Of course not. The truth is that there is a day for this, and today is NOT that day. It is, apparently, Black Forest Gateaux day, but there are no industry Brownie points to be scored with that. And so that doesn’t merit a mention either.

Are demolition and construction workers still suffering? Of course they are. Has the tidal wave of suicides receded? I have seen nothing to suggest that is the case. But in demolition and construction, our concern is compartmentalised. We have allocated a specific time to feign concern about mental health; and today, our concern calendar is fully booked with something else.

Shall I tell you something else not on the industry agenda for today? I hunted high and low, desperately seeking some mention of women in construction; but I could find none. The entire spectrum - from the female construction workers calling out misogyny to petty discussions about ill-fitting PPE - all gone. Has equality been accomplished while I was looking the other way? Are we finally hiring people based upon skill, competence and aptitude rather than testicle ownership?

Of course not. Perish the thought. The age of the girlie calendar in the site canteen, the inappropriate comment about a female worker’s rear end, and the unwanted sexual harassment is still alive and groping.

But, like mental health and suicide, we have a day for pink and girlie things. And today is not that day.

It’s not the day to discuss the industry racial imbalance either. Black Lives Matter; just not today.

Falls from height, slips, trips and falls, being crushed by equipment are all still of concern too; only less so. The Health and Safety Executive is currently focused on spreading the word about the new Building Safety Act. All the stuff that injures, maims and kills will just have to wait its turn.

Also notably absent from social media and the industry headlines are mentions of the prolonged, protracted and unresolved investigations into the fatal accidents at Didcot and at Redcar. I mean, I am sure the bereaved families of the individuals involved are thinking of nothing else today and every day. But the demolition and construction sector is cursed with a nasty case of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, and it can only concentrate on one thing at a time. The death of six men at two locations and in two separate incidents is just too much to deal with. So we’ll just wait until the anniversary of their passing rolls around again.

I looked really long and really hard, and do you know what else I couldn’t find? Any mention of the CMA investigation. In fact, I searched and searched and I just kept coming back to me and to this show. Because, apparently, that too has fallen off the industry’s front pages.

By now, you’re probably thinking that the industry has committed rather a lot to its back-burner. But you’d be wrong. The industry has no back-burner. Instead, it has a conveyor belt of concern that travels in a constant loop; each concern, each challenge, each issue passing before our eyes like the tiny coloured plates of food at Yo Sushi! When each plate is in front of us, it gets our total and undivided attention. But the moment it moves on, it is forgotten. And it will not be thought about again until that ceaseless conveyor belt lays it before us again in 365 days’ time.

Between times, workers remain stressed and suicidal; women remain marginalised and objectified; sites remain stubbornly white, male and heterosexual; people continue to be injured and killed; and accident investigations progress with all the haste of Continental Drift.

And all the while, we wonder why the industry feels like it has ground to a halt. At least, we will wonder that, just as soon as the appropriate day rolls around in our collective calendar.