McCarthy's Approach to Mental Health Awareness Honored with NAHB 2021 Safety Award for Excellence
The Safety Award for Excellence (SAFE) recognizes those individuals and companies that worked to achieve exemplary safety and health programs in the construction industry.
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., a premier national builder and one of America’s safest construction companies, was recently honored with a 2021 Safety Award for Excellence by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and its official safety sponsor, Builders Mutual. McCarthy received the Excellence in Mental Health Advocacy Award for a construction company on Feb. 8 during the 2022 International Builders’ Show.
Recognizing the Importance of Mental Health
The Safety Award for Excellence (SAFE) recognizes those individuals and companies that worked to achieve exemplary safety and health programs in the construction industry. This year, as an extension of NAHB’s member mental health and wellbeing initiative, three new categories were added to the SAFE Awards to recognize excellence in mental health programs and advocacy.
In 2021, McCarthy launched an expanded and integrated approach to break the stigma surrounding mental health to better meet the needs of employees, its craft workforce and families. An important component of the effort was McCarthy’s interest in sharing details about its proactive approach, and also sharing materials with companies or organizations in any industry working on similar efforts.
Mental Health Awareness is a Pillar in Our Workplace
“Construction offers a wide variety of rewarding career options, and we are committed to delivering a great experience for everyone who works with us,” said McCarthy Director of Total Rewards Kristyn Cantu. “Unfortunately, mental health has long been a challenge in the construction industry and the COVID-19 pandemic raised this to a new level. As one of America’s largest construction companies, we believe it is our responsibility to help propel our industry forward. One way we have chosen to do this is through an expanded focus on mental health awareness, together with our genuine interest in collaborating with others to work together on this challenge. We’re honored to receive this award as recognition for our approach.”
“Congratulations to McCarthy on being recognized as leader in the industry and demonstrating a superior commitment to safe work practices,” said J. Gary Hill, chairman, NAHB Construction Safety and Health Committee. “McCarthy generously shared its toolbox talks with NAHB in an effort to help our industry bring mental wellbeing into the spotlight.”
The McCarthy Genuine Care Program
Designed to create more discussion around mental health awareness, acceptance and treatment options, the McCarthy Genuine Care program complements McCarthy’s digital and telemedicine mental health services and peer-support services. It combines strategies and practices across McCarthy’s safety, human resources and operations teams — all under the umbrella of the firm’s award-winning Build for Life health and wellness program.
Materials, resources and tools to emphasize and support mental health awareness on jobsites and in offices are available at any time through the company’s intranet and include toolbox talks on mental health, suicide prevention, and signage to increase awareness. Helpful information is also available for all employees and families through the McCarthy Employee Assistance Program (EAP). On jobsites, McCarthy provides hard hat stickers to all employees with important contact information while conducting meaningful discussions with all teams about the company’s approach to mental health, as well as immediately available resources.
Future program plans include adding more support, resources and training for managers and employees and considering an evidence-based mental health crisis response system.
“This focus on mental health awareness and support is crucial for the long-term success of our industry,” McCarthy President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Wittkop said. “Similar to our industry’s united focus on physical safety, we believe this is something we must work on together. We are committed to this and are looking forward to partnering with others across the industry in this effort.”
About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the oldest privately held national construction company in the country – with more than 150 years spent collaborating with partners to solve complex building challenges on behalf of its clients. With an unrelenting focus on safety and a comprehensive quality program that span all phases of every project, McCarthy utilizes industry-leading design phase and construction techniques combined with value-add technology to maximize outcomes. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work and Healthiest Employer, McCarthy is ranked the 13th largest domestic builder (Engineering News-Record, May 2021). With approximately 6,000 salaried employees and craft professionals, the firm has offices in St. Louis; Atlanta; Collinsville, Ill.; Kansas City, Kan.; Omaha, Neb.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Denver; Dallas, Houston; and San Diego, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento, Calif. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com or by following the company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
