Women at Work

IT’S OK TO NOT BE OK

Restrictions have made things hard but there are services here to help

In August of this year it was reported by the ABC that the “COVID-19 pandemic had taken a crushing toll on the mental health of tradies”. The construction industries in New South Wales and Victoria felt the brunt of the widespread lockdowns which began in June and July, further exacerbated by supply delays, employees being stood down, price increases and disruptions to deliveries. And while trying to find any comforting prospects from the challenging period brought about by COVID-19 seems fruitless, Kayte Wilson from MATES in Construction believes the awareness surrounding mental health and organisation’s responsibilities in this area has increased. “With the impacts of the pandemic this year we have really noticed an increase in organisations reaching out and wanting to ensure their staff are trained and informed about the impacts of mental health and how to support one another,” Kayte said. “The biggest difference for us in this year’s lockdown has been the fact that the whole construction industry was locked down not just the individuals in their communities. “This has obviously had a significant impact on people’s livelihoods, relationships and individual’s mental health when they are no longer able to pay their bills, have the structure and routine of going to work and having the outlet of coworkers to discuss issues with each day.” With the greater awareness surrounding mental health only continuing to grow the longer Australia struggles with the impact of the pandemic, Kayte and her team are hopeful that such realisations will lead to genuine change within the structures of the construction industry. “With an increase in organisations and individuals reaching out and asking what support MATES can provide at this point and what support they, as employers, could be providing to their people, it has been really reassuring to see how many employers have stepped up to support the people they employ, as many have reported they feel they are like family. “One of the positives from this experience has been that there is much greater awareness of mental health and mental health issues and what seems to be a greater acceptance in reaching out and asking for support.” Not unlike other industries, MATES themselves have had to employ new ways of working and reaching out to those who are struggling, while ensuring the services they offer are meeting the current support needs required. “In NSW we rolled out a virtual program called Site Connect which gives a safe and supported space to talk about their experiences of COVID and how people are really feeling. “We provide tools and strategies around how to cope and how the feelings individuals may be experiencing are actually normal in these abnormal times. “The staff ensure all participants take away a resource list of which organisations they can contact, including MATES 24/7 line and the option of a referral to a case manager.” And while there is no denying the incredible work of MATES and similar support services available to the construction industry, for Kayte and her team, the most important support of all needs to come from those closest. “When MATES are delivering training we ask whose responsibility is this? Is it the Governments? “Yes, to a degree, but we also stress that we all have a role in this and we all need to be reaching out and asking if our families, friends and colleagues are going OK. “Remind them that it is OK not to be OK, and that there are many services out there like ours who are ready to support and help in times like these.”

BLUNDSTONE — A NATURAL FIT FOR HARD WORK

Australian iconic and fit-for-purpose footwear brand, Blundstone, continues their legacy of combining the latest technology with design flair, with their range of safety boots specifically designed for women in the trades, building and construction industries. Blundstone’s Women’s Safety Series boots bridge the gap between safety and style, providing a sturdy and reliable boot designed for optimum support, protection and comfort for the toughest job sites.

Designed and made for women, the #897 is part of the wider Women’s Safety Series. Offering optimum fit and protection, there’s no compromise on comfort with Blundstone’s famous SPS Max Comfort system, featuring XRD® Technology.

XRD® Technology provides supreme and repeated impact protection by absorbing up to 90% of energy with every step taken. This feature changes the level of performance, comfort and confidence for the wearer and reduces fatigue and orthopaedic issues.

The #897 is built for hard work, with a waterresistant leather upper, heat-resistant rubber sole, impact-resistant steel toe cap and a moulded TPU bump cap to increase durability.

Building on all the features Blundstone consumers know and love, these boots are designed with comfort arch footbeds, built-in steel shank for maximum torsional stability and rubber outsoles specifically designed to increase slip resistance in varied environments.

Offering a genuine women’s fit in sizes 5-11 with half sizes for wider options, the Blundstone #897 complies with AS 2210.3:2019 and ASTM F213-18 standards and is backed by Blundstone’s 30-day comfort and six-month manufacturing guarantee. The #897 is available wherever hard work is taken seriously.

To view Blundstone’s full range of safety styles designed and made for women, visit https://www.blundstone.com.au/work-boots/women-s-safety-series

BECKY PAROZ

ENGINEER, PROJECT MANAGER AND AUTHOR

FINDING THE FUN

Building and construction is tough, we all know that. Add a complex social situation like a pandemic, and you have what seems to be long term pandemonium. Everyone is feeling it, no one is loving it.

We have never been so reliant on community and yet felt so distant from the feeling that community usually provides.

We need to actively find ways to laugh, smile, to feel good, and to search for that silver lining more than ever before. Find the fun, see the light, enjoy the laughter, in between the mayhem that is everyday life currently. It can be found, and it will make a difference. Be that person that lights another up in a world that is currently a bit darker than normal.

Seek your tribe! Find that online group, search out for similar people in your circumstance that collectively and actively participate in social media. Put the social back into social media, and look for the tradie groups, the mining cohorts, and the women who support women in these industries and say hi to the community.

I have been unable to work since this began, and have a few more months before my immune system might be protected enough to be out in public regularly. Lots of us are in forced lockdown and can’t do the activities we would normally with friends, family, and those with similar interests. It might not be quite the same as in person, but some of the industry specific groups I am a part of, have been a lifeline of community, fun, laughter, and shared issues, which reminds me I am not alone.

I have online friends who collect all the memes and share them every day as their contribution to the smiling and laughter that might be missing from our usual interactions. Their giving is truly loved by their audience, because we do need to remember to laugh, despite what is going on in our world. If for no other reason than it is good for our mental health. I worked on a particularly tough project (more than once). This one was very high pressure, with government oversight daily, so I started wearing the weirdest and wackiest socks I could find, stripes, crazy creatures, rude sayings, nothing was off-limits. I got my team engaged in the idea and every day I would have someone come up to me saying they were told to come and as about my socks! It would either give them a laugh, or at least a head shake, and that five-second distraction was often enough to reset for the next set of concerns that the day would throw our way. It became so popular that there were bets on what socks would be worn for key milestone days, or what mood I was in based on what socks I wore.

A really simple, and very silly, action, but the impact was remarkable and effective. What can you do to create a sense of fun, adventure, and laughter at your workplace, your worksite, and with your team?

Nominate crazy work shirt day, if you can get away with not wearing PPE for that day, or even just for the hour you might have everyone in the office for a toolbox. Allowing people a bit of colourful expression can make all the difference in the outlook for the day. What about boots? So many different colours and styles that are still compliant can be found these days, why not have a day that is for the most colourful and still compliant PPE?

Whatever you choose, make sure it is inclusive for your team and be the leader in your space for finding the fun. ......................................................................

Becky Paroz has 30 years of experience in construction and building, most of them in leadership roles. She studied engineering before women were encourage to join the industry, and now mentors leaders, business owners, and new-to-the-industry women across Australia on how to develop their own leadership style. She is the winner of many awards, has been published in best-selling books, writes regularly for several magazines, and a much requested public presenter to a variety of forums.

SHATTERING GLASS CEILINGS

Canberra’s Strathnairn Charity House build is breaking down barriers writes Bea Smith

Across the world, cracks are forming in glass ceilings. By November 2020, women held 32.1% of seats across Australia’s top 200 boards and female politicians now hold the majority in the Senate for the first time ever.

In the Australian construction industry, however, it’s a different story. While statistics show promising growth with the overall number of women in construction roles increasing by 34% in five years — from 44,583 in 2015 to 59,587 in 2020 — this is a small drop in the ocean when it comes to Australia’s 1.2 million-strong construction workforce.

But an ambitious local initiative is working to change these statistics and showcase Canberra’s female talent in the sector.

The Strathnairn Charity House may currently be a concrete slab with one of the best views in Canberra, but it represents something far bigger — the collaboration of dozens of women across myriad roles — from architecture and interior

design, to electricians, builders, carpenters, painters and landscapers — to prove that a woman’s place is on site.

A joint venture between Ginninderry and Master Builders ACT, The Strathnairn Charity House is being conceptualised, designed and built with high-quality donated and low-cost services and labour.

Once completed, the house will go to auction, with the proceeds split between three worthy organisations within West Belconnen — Pegasus Riding for the Disabled, Karinya House, and Canberra City Care Charnwood — with funds distributed through Hands Across Canberra.

With four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a sleek modern design, the Strathnairn Charity House is expected to fetch upwards of a million dollars at auction — but it won’t just raise much-needed funds. It will also break down barriers within the construction industry, as the team behind its design, construction and oversight will be comprised solely of women. Construction on the Charity House is being spearheaded by KANE Constructions ACT’s General Manager Jo Farrell, whose track record for empowering women in trade roles speaks for itself.

Jo is also the founder of not-for-profit organisation Build Like A Girl, which champions women in trade and encourages young women to consider a trade as a career option. Naturally, Jo was excited by the prospect of a house built entirely by women.

“The ACT Women’s Action Plan sets a target of achieving increased participation by women in the construction sector…so this project is a great opportunity to shine a light on the impact that women can have in our industry,” she says.

“From a design and construction point of view, the project will be led by a female architect and builder but, more importantly, every trade we use will have a female apprentice, and participants on the Master Builders ACT & Ginninderry’s successful SPARK Women in Trades program will also use the project as a live training site.”

For Jo, it’s all about visibility as the house comes together on-site — because you cannot be what you cannot see.

“We’re starting to really recognise how many women are playing a part in [the house’s] construction…it’s about recognition and making them visible. That’s the most important part of this story,” she says.

“There’s got to be women there showing that it can be done to then allow younger women to say, ‘Well if she can do it, I can too’.”

Architect Cassandra Keller shares Jo’s enthusiasm. Her firm CK Architecture is heavily involved in programs which she says, “enable young women to explore careers in construction they may not have thought about,” so being part of the Strathnairn Charity House team was a natural choice. “It’s a great example of showing young women — and the broader community — what other women can do in the construction industry,” says Cassandra. “It makes it real for girls.”

Cassandra says the Strathnairn Charity House is as much about inspiring the next generation as it is about celebrating the women in Canberra’s construction industry.

“I feel very lucky to be a part of it because I can see what a difference it makes for young women. When I was that age, I would have loved to have seen more of that happening.”

One such young woman is 25-year-old Siobhan Nelson. Now a first-year electrical apprentice with Control & Electric, Siobhan came across Ginninderry’s pioneering SPARK Construction Program at a jobs fair and quickly realised it was the perfect route to a career that suited her better than she ever expected.

Because of SPARK’s involvement with the Strathnairn Charity House, Siobhan has been able to

put her mark on the house in not one, but two, ways — helping create the formwork and connecting the site to the grid — and says the atmosphere on-site is electric (no pun intended).

“You could see the inspiration on everyone’s faces and how excited they were to be doing something that was going to give back to women and the community,” says Siobhan. “Everyone had a big smile on their face. The best word would be ‘empowered’.”

However, Jo is also quick to add that women don’t need to be young or at the start of their careers to take up a trade.

“Don’t listen to the negativity,” she says. “Reach out to us or someone else in the industry and get the right information. Construction is genderless — it’s not about who you are, it’s the attitude you bring to the table that will dictate your success in this industry.”

For Siobhan, the Strathnairn Charity House is just the beginning.

“I’m finishing my apprenticeship and once I’m fully qualified, I’d like to stay in the industry and teach,” she says. “My long-term goal is to help encourage more women to be involved in a trade.”