The young female tradition exposes the sad reality of their well-paid work

A young women’s tradition has revealed that highly paid construction workers often struggle with their mental health to drink, do drugs and gamble.

Bardie Somerville, who works as a carpenter, uploaded a video to Tiktok last Friday to expose the sad reality that many of his colleagues face every day.

“When I was an apprentice, I used to work with this guy and I kid you not, it happened all the time,” he said.

“Every Wednesday he’d lose half his tool kit because he’d go down and pawn them at the pawn shop for the week.”

He said that many traditions do not know how to break their bad habits or do not have the necessary support to help them.

“I look back then and I can really see how I continued to normalize being in a really bad place and thinking it was normal,” Ms Somerville said.

As for the charity’s figures, MATES found that a construction worker dies by suicide every two days.

Construction workers are also eight times more likely to die by suicide than by a workplace accident.

Ms Somvervile said more work needed to be done to help businesses struggling with their mental health.

“Just because you’re in a tough spot doesn’t mean you have to stay,” she said.

Figures from construction services website Service Seeking revealed nine per cent of Australian businesses earn more than $200,000 a year.

Tradies can earn an annual salary of $64,315 for entry-level positions according to employment agency talent.com.

The challenges faced by construction workers with their mental health have also been exacerbated by the current skills shortage in the industry.

A survey by Australian work boot manufacturer Steel Blue revealed that 54% of respondents said skills shortages have had a negative impact on their mental health.

Despite the sad findings, Beyond Blue chief executive Georgie Harman said tradies are seeking help by talking to their friends, family or GP.

Bardie Somerville, who works as a carpenter, uploaded a video on Tiktok last Friday to expose the sad reality many of his colleagues face every day.

“More people are seeking mental health support since the survey began in 2022 and more than 60% of respondents said they knew how to protect their mental health in times of stress,” said Ms. Harman.

“We need to change the narrative around depression and other mental health issues. Taking action, getting support, talking to friends or family takes strength and courage and is such an important step to take to get better.”

Australia needs 90,000 construction workers to help build 60,000 new homes across the country each quarter.

The move is part of the government’s ambitious housing target to build 1.2 million new homes in Australia over the next five years.