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1300 642 111
MATES in Construction
Free. Independent. Confidential.
For anyone in the construction industry.
#How they can help
MATES is an integrated industry program that provides a support line and case management to workers who need help and support.
Their field staff also train workers to improve mental health and suicide prevention literacy, increase help seeking and help offering and engage the workforce in creating a mentally health workplace.
Volunteer Connectors and ASIST workers are also available throughout the industry and are trained to identify, support and connect workers to help and support.
Field Officers support workplace volunteers to create on-site networks supporting each other and the worksite in preventing suicide and becoming mentally healthier.
Look for the MATES stickers on hard hats to identify those around you who are trained to provide on site support. Green is a 'MATES Connector' and blue is a 'MATES ASIST'.
#Look for the MATES stickers
Keep an eye out on site for the different MATES stickers on hard hats. These people are trained to help.
MATES Inducted
Red and black Mates sticker
Around 80% of on site workers are trained with MATES' General Awareness Training (GAT). This training introduces workers to the nature of the problem, that it’s okay to talk about mental health and provides practical guidance as to how they can assist.
MATES Connector
Green Mates sticker
MATES Connectors are people who volunteer to become someone who is trained to keep someone safe in a crisis, while at the same time connecting them to professional help.
MATES Asist
Blue Mates sticker
The MATES Asist (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) sticker identifies people specially trained to talk to someone who may be contemplating suicide with the simple objective of making this person 'safe'. Using simple skills, an ASIST worker will listen to the person’s concerns and respond to them appropriately with the aim of reaching a ‘safe plan’.
#Areas of specialty
Case Management
MATES employs suitably qualified case managers to assist troubled workers with an effective plan to address their issues.
MATES does not provide any services but instead connects the worker to appropriate services in their industry and region, which could include such services as their EAP, financial counselling, drug and alcohol services, grief counselling, family and relationship counselling. We also follow-up with the worker to ensure the help they received was effective. In some cases, we will also advocate for the worker with a service to ensure the service can meet their needs.
Field Visits
MATES employs Field Officers who go from site to site with their region to establish the MATES program where it does not yet exist.
If your site or company wants to be involved in the MATES program, go to the ‘Contact Us’ and your local MATES staff will contact you as soon as practicable. Once the MATES program commences on the site, the Field Officer will have contact with that site until it comes to closure. That presence includes both training and support. It could include toolbox talks, presence at site events, regular visits to the site office or crib huts with posters and stickers, and to talk with any workers who may want to talk with MATES. In addition, they will also meet with Connector and ASIST workers as well as provide ongoing General Awareness Training and Connector training as needed
Critical Incidents
Critical incidents and accidents are reasonably regular events on construction sites, and sometimes these events can trigger emotions and reactions in workers that compromise both their safety and mental health.
When invited by the site, MATES will attend the site to support its workers after a critical incident. Part of this process is to recharge the onsite MATES network (Connector and ASIST workers) to be vigilant in keeping an eye on their mates for any adverse effects.
Postvention
This refers to the support a site may need after a worker or a worker’s family member has died by suicide.
The MATES program is a suicide prevention program that encourages workers to seek help, often with help for their mates, before an issue gets so big that they consider suicide as an option. The MATES program is not an inoculation against suicide. Because suicide is a personal decision, in some cases those who make that choice do so even when much help and assistance has been offered. The grief that follows a suicide can be complex, often left with many unanswered questions and ‘what ifs’. Postvention is designed to help those grieving after a suicide to ensure that they get the appropriate help and support.