Several workers on nuclear plant have killed themselves or attempted to, says union

Hinkley Point nuclear power station, Britain’s biggest construction project since the second world war, is grappling with a mental illness crisis, with several attempted suicides since work began in 2016, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

More than 4,000 workers are on site delivering the vast decade-long building project, a central plank in Britain’s future energy strategy.

But according to union officials, there has been a surge in suicide attempts this year, a rise in the number of people off sick with stress, anxiety and depression, and an increase in workers suffering from mental distress.

Officials from the Unite union say they have been told of 10 suicide attempts in the first four months of 2019. The Guardian understands at least two workers connected to the project have taken their lives since construction started in earnest in 2016.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A canteen for construction workers at Hinkley Point. Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

“We were in utter shock when they told us the statistics around suicides and mental health,” said Malcolm Davies, a convenor at the Unite union at Hinkley Point C. “The scale of the mental health issues at Hinkley is something I have never seen before.”

“We are in a phase now with mental health where we were with safety 50 years ago,” said Davies, a construction veteran who is a champion of mental health first aid at the site. “The same number of people are going off, only now they are not going off with injuries. They are going off with stress.”

The main causes of the distress appear to be loneliness, relationship breakdown and the struggle of being sometimes hundreds of miles away from family.

Électricité de France (EDF), which is in charge of building Britain’s first new nuclear power plant for more than 20 years, disputes the figures, acknowledging two suicides – one of those a former worker who had left the project.

Executives say that a number of workers have said they are suicidal, but point to a wide range of measures to address the problem, including 200 mental health “buddies”, “time to talk” rooms, an on-site GP, and plans to recruit a chaplain.

“I’m aware of people who have said they have felt like committing suicide,” said Angie Young, the site health and wellbeing manager. She said the figure of 10 was a “total exaggeration”. “We do have people say life is not worth living but we’re getting in there and helping.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Angie Young. Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

The construction industry has long been blighted by poor mental health. Suicide rates are more than three times the national average for men. Contributing factors in an overwhelmingly male environment (more than 85% of construction workers are male) are bullying, homesickness, job insecurity, financial pressures and isolation, which are sometimes compounded by drink, drugs and gambling.

The industry is atomised moreover into tiers of subcontractors scrambling to make tight margins. So even if a principal contractor has noble ambitions about protecting workers, that does not always ripple down the supply chain.

At Hinkley, workers live on special campuses in nearby Bridgwater, or else in converted digs in the town. They work a variety of shift patterns and are shuttled to and from the site on scores of buses. Some contractors work as much as 11 days on with three days off, including an extra weekend day for travelling home.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Buses transport workers between Hinkley Point and Bridgwater. Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

But the Guardian understands that most people can cope with the stress and pressure of the work. The problems start once they clock off.

“We have the normal breakdown in relationships, men crying because their wives won’t take them back, things like that, but people are away from their family and friends and might not be able to cope as well as they would at home where they could have a beer with a friend and talk,” said one Hinkley Point worker.

Socially there are reports of increases in drinking, gambling and prostitution in Bridgwater, which has been upended by the huge construction site on its doorstep. One source in a local betting shop told of some workers spending up to £3,000 a week and others “self-excluding” from the premises to stop developing a financially detrimental habit.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fore Street in the centre of Bridgwater. Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

Such is the concern among EDF management that, together with Unite, they have stepped up efforts to tackle the crisis, including bringing in the former boxer Frank Bruno to talk to contractors about his mental health condition.

Bruno, who has spoken about being sectioned after a mental health crisis, hosted three sessions with more than 200 attending each.

“People were talking about it for a while after. It energised people because they thought if someone like Frank Bruno can have mental problems, anyone can,” said Jonathan Davies, another union official.

EDF is also implementing an impressive mental health programme on the site, with posters urging troubled contractors to open up and one in 20 workers now trained as a mental health first aider, or “buddy” as they are known.

“We are seeing 12 people a month, mostly about relationships, some of them about gambling and being unable to cope with being away from family for a long time,” said Malcolm Davies, who has led the talks to get mental health top of the agenda with management.

“Construction is a very macho industry. We have the highest amount of mental health issues of any sector. People can be very upset over something but they won’t tell you.”

“Men are doing very physical work, with manual handling of heavy objects every day and if you’re the big bloke and you say you can’t cope or you are seen crying you get ridiculed,” he added.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The pump room under construction at Hinkley Point C. Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

His ambition is to make Hinkley the pathfinder for new work practices in the construction industry nationwide.

“You can’t fault EDF/NNB [Nuclear New Build, an EDF subsidiary]. They are taking it very seriously. We are in a place right now with mental health in construction where we were 50 years ago with physical health,” he said.

The Unite assistant general secretary, Gail Cartmail, said: “The loss of life and the number of attempted suicides is highly disturbing. Every one of these deaths and attempted suicides is a terrible tragedy.

“Hours are often long and workers often don’t have a healthy diet. The short-term nature of employment and the constant changing of employers is a factor in the suicide rate, as is the industry’s macho culture which means workers are unwilling or unable to discuss their feelings.”

But she added that Unite had been involved in a wide range of initiatives to tackle mental health issues. “Unite has eight mental health first aiders who are clearly visible in the workplace and who have monthly meetings with EDF to discuss new initiatives.

“EDF at Hinkley also provides a fully staffed medical centre with staff trained in mental health issues.”

• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.