Seasonal Affective Disorder and Its Impact on Construction Workers

After the warm and pleasant conditions of spring and summer comes the chill of autumn, followed by cold, dark, short winter days. 

Research has shown that winter can negatively impact employees’ physical and mental well-being, including workers in the construction sector. Combined with the intense, physically demanding nature of their jobs, the pressure to meet project deadlines can make workers feel stressed and worn out. Additionally, the risk of accidents on building sites increases at this time of the year with slips, trips and falls, adversely affecting physical workers’ well-being. These factors can lead to a greater risk of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in the workplace during cold and harsh winters, adversely impacting your project’s outcomes.

To mitigate this risk, construction project workers need a supportive working environment, with their employer or contractor equipping them with the appropriate seasonal affective disorder resources. 

Hireforce Welfare’s range of well-equipped welfare units can help significantly reduce the negative impact of seasonal affective disorder physical symptoms and low mood. Our blog explores how you can tackle SAD in a construction setup and provide more support to employees.

What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)?

According to the NHS, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression, is a type of mental health condition that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern. 

The exact cause of winter depression is not fully understood, but it’s linked to lower exposure to sunlight during autumn and winter months and the season’s shorter days. During the daytime, natural light from sunlight is responsible for regulating natural body rhythms; therefore, a lack of it affects mood and energy levels.

Common Seasonal Affective Disorder Physical Symptoms and Mental Symptoms

Cold and wet weather makes working in the intense setting of building sites more difficult. These unfavourable weather conditions, combined with the lack of natural light during winter, can take a toll on construction workers’ physical and mental well-being.

As our bodies need to work harder in colder temperatures, workers will tend to feel tired faster during winter. They may feel lethargic and less active than usual. Your workers may also have difficulty concentrating, wanting to sleep and eat more than at other times of the year.

Individuals affected by SAD feel depression-like symptoms, including low mood, a loss of interest in everyday activities, irritability, despair, low self-esteem, stress or anxiety, indecisiveness and feelings of guilt and worthlessness.

Seasonal affective disorder’s physical symptoms may be mild at the start of autumn and worsen as winter progresses. However, the severity of symptoms varies from person to person.

Seasonal Affective Disorder Prevention for Construction Workers

Having a clear strategy in place to tackle this health condition during colder, darker months keeps your workers safe, helps maintain worker productivity and lowers the impact on your project’s bottom line.

Hireforce Welfare’s towable site accommodation cabins can mitigate the impact of winter depression on your construction projects. Our range of fully functional portable welfare trailers can support your winter well-being measures on-site to keep your workforce safe from winter pressures. 

Here’s how our welfare units play a vital role in supporting your construction workers and projects.

Regular Breaks in Warm Spaces

Ensure your workforce takes regular breaks in warm, indoor setups to prevent the ill effects of seasonal affective disorder in the workplace. Workers can become tired faster during colder weather, so it’s vital to ensure they take breaks regularly and perhaps more frequently than at other times of the year.

Our site welfare units provide your workers with a warm area to look forward to, with access to hot drinks and areas to dry off in and change clothing. Our 6 to 16-person portable welfare trailers have a makeshift kitchenette with running hot water, and separate changing rooms to change into dry clothing. Making these facilities available on building sites during winter raises worker morale and productivity during cold, gloomy days. 

Adequate Lighting

Getting much work done on a construction site during the UK’s dark and harsh autumn and winter can be challenging. Inadequate natural light can have a detrimental effect on your workforce’s mood, evoking feelings of SAD and affecting productivity levels. Lower productivity leads to delays and missed project targets, affecting the project’s outcomes.

SAD’s impacts can be reduced by providing ample artificial lights, both outdoors and in welfare units. Sufficient lighting can boost mood, improve concentration, and may contribute to seasonal affective disorder prevention. 

Our welfare range is robustly designed to withstand the harsh winter chill and to provide adequate indoor LED lighting and heat. Combined with on-site lighting, indoor lighting ultimately helps maintain worker productivity.

Open Communication and Awareness

SAD is a mental health issue, and as such, it’s important to create a culture of open communication in the workplace to reduce stigma and mitigate its impact on workers. Employers need to take responsibility for educating all on-site workers about mental health issues and provide seasonal affective disorder resources.

Hireforce’s welfare trailers for 10- and 16-person setups have offices that double up as private meeting spaces for affected workers to open up and voice their concerns. 

Additionally, a portal for mental health in construction provides information and training for line managers and supervisors to start the conversation around mental health.

Limit the Effects of SAD on Construction Workers with Hireforce’s Welfare Units

Beat the winter chill and tackle seasonal affective disorder in the workplace with Hireforce’s welfare unit range. Our fully functional and amenity-rich units assist you in supporting your workforce’s well-being, even in the cold, dark winter months.

At Hireforce Welfare, we offer high-quality 6 to 16-person welfare units that cater to all projects. Founded in 2012, we have rapidly grown to be a leading tool and equipment hire company, with new operations spanning neighbouring counties of the UK. Partner with us to secure HSE-compliant and robust welfare cabins adhering to the latest government and welfare regulations.