LMD Vacuum Excavation, the leading supplier of vacuum excavators to projects across the UK and Ireland, has joined forces with the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity. One of LMD’s vacuum excavators will carry the charity’s livery depicting their latest mental health campaign,  Help Inside the Hard Hat, throughput 2022.  The aim is to promote the emotional, physical and financial wellbeing support provided by the charity to ill and injured construction workers and their families.

Mick Dysart is LMD Vacuum Excavation’s Managing Director:

‘The construction industry is far safer and less macho than when I started work over thirty years ago. However, we still have a poor health and safety record compared to many other sectors. I was shocked to learn, for example, that each year we lose 2.4 million working days through injury or illness, and that every single working day two workers in our sector take their own lives. We have to do something.

At LMD we take health, safety and wellbeing very seriously. All our vacuum excavators are FORS Gold-specified, and our drivers work to EU drivers’ hours regulations to avoid burn out. New trainees are not allowed to work unsupervised until they have completed our three month in-house induction programme leading to CPCS accreditation, and new HGV drivers undertake a driving assessment by our own assessor. Two members of the LMD team are Mental Health First Aid qualified.

By its very nature, however, construction is primarily a ‘team game’ with multiple interfaces and complexity. That is why it is critical that there is a ‘whole industry’ approach to construction safety and wellbeing. That is where the Lighthouse Club comes in, particularly with its focus on mental health awareness and training. I am proud to have the opportunity to support the work being undertaken by the Lighthouse Club including their ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat’ campaign. It’s an incredibly worthy cause and it’s also at the heart of what we aspire to as an organisation, so we are excited to partner with them throughout 2022.

Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity said ,

”We are  absolutely delighted to see the ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat’ campaign being promoted on one of  LMD Vacuum Excavation’s vehicles. By sharing our campaign message they are helping to promote all of the free resources we have to support our construction community. It is so important that we all work together as an industry to  make sure that everyone knows about all the support available.”