Almost one in four tradespeople suffering stress related health conditions

• 43% very confident about prospects, up from 30% in 2014
• 34% faced more pressure in 2014 than 2013 and 40% earned more last year
• 23% suffering from health conditions such as high blood pressure, general stress, insomnia, indigestion, palpitations
• 17% have had a back, neck, arm, shoulder, hip, knee or leg problem which has affected their ability to work
• Only 10% of tradespeople have been ill for more than two weeks
• However 47% of those that have found that ill health has impacted their work
  

The survey, now in its second year, showed that only 10% have taken longer than two weeks off work through ill health or accidents. However, those that did take time off for illness found that it had greater significance on their work in the past year – with nearly half (47%) saying that ill health had impacted their income significantly, a significant increase from 29% in 2013.

Of the individual trades, heating and ventilation engineers felt most impact on their income, with 100% of those reporting ill health for more than two weeks finding it had significant impact on their income.

Painters and decorators were the healthiest surveyed, with none reporting more than a fortnight off work with illness (although they do feel afflicted by short term illnesses) compared to 15% of general builders and 12% of electricians.

With regards to specific health issues, while 19% of all those questioned reported suffering from general stress or fatigue in 2014, down from 31% in the previous year, 23% reported they were suffering from stress related issues such as hair loss, depression, high blood pressure etc. The under 30s are feeling the strain the most with 22% of respondents reporting general stress in the past 12 months, and over 10% suffering from fatigue.

The most affected by stress in the survey were painters and decorators, a third of whom suffered from stress and fatigue, who also had high occurrences of high blood pressure and insomnia. Plasterers were most affected by depression and panic attacks (12%) and had the second highest incidence of insomnia. Conversely electricians have seen their stress levels drop since last year with only 13% feeling the effects of stress and fatigue compared to 39% in 2013.

Musculoskeletal issues are a key issue for the construction sector and the survey samples are no exception, with almost every trade suffering from MSK problems in the past year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the older tradespeople were most affected with 22% of the over 50’s found to be suffering. Worryingly, those that were self employed were twice as likely to be affected as those in employment. 26% of electricians and 19% of plumbers could not work due to MSK problems.

Phil Scarrett, sales and marketing director for ECIS commented on the findings: "We know that 2014 was a very busy year for the construction industry, with an upturn in work and certain trades being subsequently affected by skills shortages. While generally stress appears to be down, it is a concern that almost a quarter of workers are reporting debilitating conditions such as insomnia and depression. It is vital that as work continues to ramp up tradespeople look after both body and mind – this is a particularly important message for the self employed tradespeople who have perhaps been through some lean periods over the last few years and are now looking to capitalise on increased consumer and business confidence.

"We would always advise taking out a good health insurance policy and having regular healthchecks. Health assessments can certainly help ensure any emerging health issues can be tackled at an early stage.”

www.ecins.co.uk