Te Unua Museum of Southland crew joins industry-wide movement to support mental health wellbeing

The crew behind Te Unua Museum of Southland have made a significant step in workplace wellbeing, with the site officially gaining accreditation with MATES in Construction – joining a growing movement dedicated to improving mental health awareness in the construction industry.

The MATES in Construction initiative was officially launched in New Zealand back in November 2019, to support mental health awareness and wellbeing industry-wide. Design and build contractor for the museum, Naylor Love, was officially awarded accreditation for the MATES in Construction on Friday.

Naylor Love Senior Site Manager Iain Chapman said from the beginning, the decision to join the initiative was driven by a simple but powerful purpose.

“We know the pressures that come from this industry – long hours, tough environments. The guys on-site also have the normal, human stuff that happens to all of us day-to-day, whether that’s dealing with the loss of a loved one, relationship issues, or financial pressures,” he said.

“Traditionally, in male-dominated industries like ours, there has been a tendency to tough things out and not open up, but initiatives like MATES are changing that. We made a conscious decision to wait until we had reached the peak of our crew numbers on-site before working towards accreditation, so that once we did, we would have the greatest impact not only here at Te Unua, but out in the wider community too.”

MATES in Construction Otago-Southland field offices Fletcher Kaan and Cathy McLaren were on-hand at Te Unua to celebrate the milestone.

Kaan said the MATES initiative was free, and focused on building internal capacity – not replacing professional services, but guiding people to them.

“It’s about creating a community of people who notice when someone’s struggling, and giving them the tools to walk alongside them to get help.”

The MATES model had three tiers: General Awareness – for the wider crew, Connector – volunteers from the workforce trained to provide peer support and connect those struggling with more formal support systems, and ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) – the most advanced level, to equip members with the skills and knowledge to respond when somebody was in real crisis and at immediate risk, Kaan said.

To gain accreditation, construction sites had to meet a minimum of 80 percent of all workers – including subcontractors and staff – complete General Awareness Training, and 20 percent of the team to complete Connector training.

McLaren said the Kiwi version had followed the successful introduction of a similar programme that began in Australia in 2008. In 2021, both initiatives had even been recognised by the World Health Organisation as an example of best practice in suicide prevention, she said.

As the project continued, so too would the support from MATES in Construction, with additional ‘toolbox talks’ on-site, general awareness training, and more.

“It’s part of the long-term commitment to ensuring the team’s mental safety, alongside physical safety, on-site, and reinforces that here at Te Unua there will always be someone to stand beside you when you need it.”

Invercargill City Council Senior Project Manager Haydyn Taylor said the milestone would have an impact long after the project to build Southland’s new museum was completed.

“We’re really pleased that our contractor, Naylor Love, has made the commitment to ensure the work-site here at Te Unua is a safe one: not just physically, but in terms of mental health as well. That awareness won’t just end when construction of Te Unua Museum of Southland is complete,” he said.

“The MATES in Construction initiative is about changing the DNA of the industry, and shifting the culture of construction to create a mentally safe and supportive environment, in Invercargill and beyond.”