Build & Thrive
Build & Thrive is the podcast transforming occupational health and wellbeing in the construction industry. Hosted by Jennie Armstrong, founder of Construction Health & Wellbeing, each episode features inspiring conversations with experts and change-makers dedicated to creating a healthier, happier workforce.
Hear interviews with inspirational individuals and experts who are leading the way in tackling the industry’s toughest challenges, from staggering health statistics to skills shortages and talent retention. Did you know construction workers are nearly 4 times more likely to take their own lives through suicide than workers in other industries? Or that they’re 100 times more likely to die from work-related health issues than safety incidents?
It’s clear we need to do more. Built to Thrive is here to spark change, celebrate innovation, and inspire action for a brighter future in construction.
Join us for real stories, practical advice, and the latest in health and wellbeing strategies for the construction sector. Subscribe now on your favourite podcast platform, and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube to stay updated. Together, we can make construction a place where everyone can thrive.
Build & Thrive
From Awareness to Action: How Balfour Beatty Is Rethinking Health at Work
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode of Build and Thrive, Jennie Armstrong is joined by Rob Cheeseman, Head of Health at Balfour Beatty, for a practical conversation about what health, hygiene and wellbeing look like inside one of the UK’s largest construction organisations.
Rob shares his journey from sport, rehabilitation and occupational health into construction, and explains how Balfour Beatty is working to make health risk management more integrated, consistent and tangible across the business. From occupational hygiene and health exposure reporting to flexible working, ISO 45003 and workplace wellbeing, this episode explores how the industry can move from good intentions to practical delivery.
What we cover:
- Why health in construction needs to be treated with the same confidence as safety.
- How Balfour Beatty integrates health, hygiene and wellbeing under one approach.
- Why wellbeing needs to be made simple, tangible and deliverable on site.
- The “create, manage, support” model Balfour Beatty uses to explain workplace wellbeing.
- The importance of reporting health exposure incidents and learning from them.
- Balfour Beatty’s ISO 45003 journey and what it taught them about consistency.
- Why flexible working, better industry standards and shared learning could shape the future of construction health.
Rob also reflects on the need for the industry to be braver, more collaborative and more consistent in how it manages health. His message is clear: construction already knows how to manage risk, but it needs to stop treating health as something separate, specialist or too difficult to tackle.
🎧 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431164 (or search your podcast app)
📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEoibJLDuFnnT3qSQw37LKPG6xlyvCj7B
🔹 Thank you to our sponsor, GKR Scaffolding, for supporting this series and helping us share our mission of improving health and wellbeing in construction.
Plan, Do, Check, Act - Assess your systematic approach to Psychosocial Hazard Management with 12 quick questions: https://psychsafety.scoreapp.com
Episode Links:
Jennie Armstrong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniearmstrong/
Construction Health & Wellbeing: https://constructionhealth.co.uk/
Rob Cheeseman:
Balfour Beatty:
- Website: https://www.balfourbeatty.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balfourbeatty
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balfourbeatty
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/balfour-beatty-plc/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BalfourBeattyPlc
- X: https://twitter.com/balfourbeatty
GKR Scaffolding (sponsor): https://gkrscaffolding.co.uk/
Are you investing in a healthier and happier workforce? Want a free 30 minute strategy call to ensure you're on the right path.
Email support@constructionhealth.co.uk