Category: Blog

As incredible as it seems, 2022 marks the 10 year anniversary of Welfare Hire.

While we long ago established ourselves as a leader in the welfare unit market, this latest milestone demonstrates that we have true staying power.

Innovation pays

The root of our success is simple: we have a mission, and we stick to it. 

We decided from day one that we would build the UK’s largest and most technically advanced fleet of welfare units, welfare vans and lighting towers. 

And that is exactly what we have done. 

We have continuously reinvested our revenue to push innovation and provide better products to our partners. 

That has meant embracing next generation technologies – like lithium battery systems, smart telemetry and biofuel generators.

But it has also meant understanding the welfare needs of our clients, and ensuring our units are spacious, comfortable and designed for convenience. 

The combination produces unrivalled quality, exceptional value and devoted service at all times.

Our offering is more timely than ever

Mobile welfare units and welfare vans are often an afterthought – a mere practical

A major part of our staying power has been our embrace of eco-friendly technology. 

When we began offering products geared specifically to reducing carbon emissions and producing greener construction sites, there was certainly some awareness of climate change in parts of the industry.

But we have been vindicated in recent years as the industry has woken up to the significance of the task we face.

While other businesses look to pivot their offering, we’ve been able to carry on as we always had. 

That has meant we’ve been consistently ahead of the game, producing the most forward-thinking products on the market. 

And that in turn has given us unique expertise on how to make welfare units and lighting towers  eco-friendly.

Never settle for second best

Despite the celebrations, we have no interest in slowing down anytime soon.

We are still investing heavily in the innovation process, having released our most advanced welfare unit to date last year – the ECOXLi.  

And moving forward, we intend to push this even further. 

We will continue helping our partners realise their sustainability goals. 

We will continue to create more positive onsite experiences for their employees. 

And we will continue to provide the highest quality products, for the best value, with the most reliable service on the market.

So here’s to another ten years!

Gender equality is still a major issue for the construction industry. Around 10% of the construction workforce is currently female¹. But 86.7% of those women are in office positions  – and only 2.5% work directly in the field².

This suggests that women in our industry face their biggest difficulties onsite. And in order to increase gender equality, we must offer a more inclusive environment in which female employees can thrive.

In this article, we explore why construction sites are still a great opportunity for women – and how leaders can adapt their sites to encourage greater female participation.

CULTURE IS THE KEY

The primary barrier to increased female participation on construction sites is cultural. There are long-standing stereotypes that plague the industry. And these stereotypes ultimately create a sense of alienation and exclusion for women onsite. 

A report published in 2020 showed that 72% of women in construction had experienced some form of gender discrimination in the workplace³. 80% of women say they feel left out at on-site socialising⁴. And 37% believe they are consistently excluded from male conversations at work⁵.

Other issues include the cleanliness of facilities; Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) not fitting female employees; and pervasive ideas about construction being fundamentally “men’s work”.

HOW WELFARE UNITS CAN CHANGE CULTURE

Mobile welfare units and welfare vans are often an afterthought – a mere practical necessity. But the reality is many of the cultural problems we have discussed are directly affected by the type of welfare units you choose to place onsite.

From the quality of facilities to the amount of space provided for socialising, welfare units can increase camaraderie and facilitate a happier, more inclusive social atmosphere. This is far from a silver bullet for the problem of gender imbalance, of course. But it can go a long way to creating an onsite culture, which is more accommodating to female workers. 

Let’s take our ECOXLi unit as an example. It provides far larger space than other typical welfare units, with dynamic spaces. But that’s not all: there is controlled heating, to ensure the space is comfortable at all times. 

There are separate water-flush ceramic toilets and WC/changing rooms, to ensure privacy and optimal hygiene for all employees. And the Smart Water WC facilities are the cleanest and most efficient on the market. 

The XL canteen area provides a comfortable and spacious break area with a fully equipped kitchen. Plus there is a drying facility for PPE and an extra large 2-person office.

The result is clear: employee wellbeing is dramatically improved, and the on-site dynamic is far more friendly and inclusive.

THE CLEAREST WAY TO IMPROVE ON-SITE CULTURE

The GMB predicts it will take 200 years to achieve full gender equality, based on current trends⁶. But we believe that improving on-site wellbeing will bring about much faster changes. And introducing innovative welfare units is just one, easy-to-implement way of doing that.

Found out more on how our dynamic, modern welfare units can enhance Wellbeing here.

At Welfare Hire, we believe that great products should deliver value across multiple dimensions. That is why we promote our five core pillars of quality, service, environment, wellbeing and value.

Every mobile welfare unit in our range is built with these five factors in mind. And in order to demonstrate that fact, we are going to explain how our most popular products improve performance across each pillar.

MOBILE EcoWELFARE Eco7

QUALITY

The Eco7 was designed to deliver greater quality while taking up less space. With its unique retractable drawbar, the unit’s onsite footprint is 40% smaller than other mobile welfare units. This provides greater flexibility, as it can fit into spaces other units can’t. And by minimising trip hazards, it makes Health and Safety compliance seamless.

SERVICE

All Welfare Hire products include a 62-point quality assurance process and dedicated expert support. But the Eco7 dramatically reduces the need for services – saving you both time and money. Its Smart XL Water WCs boast extra-large waste tanks, reducing the frequency of service intervals whilst improving wash & WC facilities.

ENVIRONMENT

The Eco7 is far more eco-friendly than other welfare units on the market. Using Smart Hybrid battery power, it is able to run silently on purely green energy 75% of time – all without ever compromising performance. This produces huge fuel savings and CO₂ reductions of up to 15x.

WELLBEING

The Eco7 is far more eco-friendly than other welfare units on the market. Using Smart Hybrid The Eco7 is designed with comfort in mind. It has 20% more internal space than comparable welfare units, providing more room for 7 people comfortably – with bench seating, back rests and large tables as standard. This creates a far more positive space for employees to spend their downtime – ultimately increasing wellbeing and boosting morale.

VALUE

With the combined elements above, the Eco7 delivers far greater value than any comparable mobile welfare unit. It has set the bar for products of this size and scope, demonstrating the power of innovative mobile welfare units.

ECOXLi

QUALITY

The ECOXLi is the pinnacle of quality for mobile welfare units. It is the largest towable unit on the market and whilst many providers are using HGVs to deliver their units, we are using our own fleet of modern, Euro VI-compliant, low-emissions pick-ups, driven by our own experts. – ensuring you get the absolute maximum in terms of welfare accommodation and without compromising accessibility.

SERVICE

The ECOXLi optimises usage due to 100% use of recycled rainwater and non-chemical XL water tank with smart service management. Its smart telemetry system enables you to monitor energy usage in real-time, to optimise efficiency and eliminate fuel wastage. This also empowers you to schedule water and WC services for exactly when they are needed – reducing the frequency of service intervals.

ENVIRONMENT

Our ECO smart power use of renewable solar energy and next generation Lithium cell batteries with smart auto start stop power management is next level. With 100% silent & clean green energy, this minimises requirement for generator power usage, and for the summer months is not required at all.

WELLBEING

The ECOXLi is also the largest welfare unit on the market. It provides space for up to 15 people, offering comfortable seating, full canteen facilities, a separate working office for two, drying facilities and two separate water-flush WCs. This helps support a happier, healthier and more productive workforce – ultimately changing the way employees think about their work.

VALUE

For many businesses, value is all about the bottom line – and the ECOXLi delivers this in spades. With its user-friendly dashboard, XL water system and ECO power system, you can easily optimise for efficiency and eliminate downtime – making it the most economical welfare unit of its kind.

There is no longer a debate: the world needs to embrace cleaner, more sustainable energy sources – and fast. 

Doing so is a vital part of meeting targets for curbing carbon emissions, not to mention the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals¹. But it will not happen overnight, and a huge amount of innovation will be required to develop the reliable, dynamic systems we need.

Construction is a vital force here. The industry will play a key role in the future of sustainable energy, helping build the infrastructure our new energy systems will rely on². But in doing so this itself presents an opportunity to embrace cleaner, greener construction methods..

Roughly 10% of the UK’s CO₂ emissions are a direct result of construction activities. Yet many have still to embrace more energy efficient products, like mobile ECO welfare and tower lights – and the industry has lagged behind when it comes to innovation in recent years. 

So, while construction has a key role to play in bringing about positive changes in the energy industry, we also have a responsibility to develop more sustainable ways of working.

What can infrastructure contractors do?

Changing the way sites are run might seem like an overwhelming task. But as we’ve discussed before in relation to our mobile ECO welfare units, many of the biggest wins can come from seemingly small changes.

A simple example is the units and lighting that your site uses: many older models are hugely energy inefficient, both producing huge amounts of emissions and requiring huge amounts of support to run.

Welfare units and vans, lighting units, Vehicle Mounted Access Platforms – these may not strike you as key parts of a clean energy revolution. But that is largely because very few companies that build these products have fully embraced the possibilities of innovative technology

Take our ECOXLi mobile welfare unit

It operates on a next generation Lithium cell battery and uses full solar power technology to power the onboard energy requirements. Not only does this enable the unit to run longer – it minimises the need for generator power and results in an incomparably cleaner energy system.

The welfare unit also features a Smart Telemetry system, which enables real-time monitoring of energy usage and provides live volumetric data for your site. Ultimately, this ensures that energy is used as efficiently as possible, emissions are lowered and your site is more sustainable.

Embracing products like this is a simple but highly effective way for contractors to drastically improve their site, as well as demonstrating to clients that they are forward-thinking.

Mental health and wellbeing is a serious problem in construction: everybody knows this, and we’ve discussed the reasons why at length in our articles about mobile welfare units.

But acknowledging this problem and actually dealing with it are two very different things. The stats on onsite injuries and mental health issues have been available for years, and the industry has yet to make a decisive shift towards prioritising employee wellbeing – despite the widespread availability of many resources, like innovative welfare units.

It is time to change this.  Promoting Health and Wellbeing is even included as one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – and that has to mean something. 

As the new year begins, we believe contractors and organisations must take decisive action to truly put wellbeing at the top of their agendas. That means more than keeping workers safe – it means truly adapting the physical and social environment of worksites to meet employees’ needs.

Here are four important steps you can take to increase wellbeing on your site:

1. Be honest about the problem

The first step towards truly prioritising onsite wellbeing is accepting the scale of the problem. As our research shows, men in construction are roughly 3x more likely to commit suicide than the average population, and construction workers make up roughly 16% of all male suicides. 

Improving wellbeing is not simply a technical challenge – these issues are deeply embedded in the culture of many sites. So rather than looking for quick fixes, we need to see this as an ongoing task of adaptation and education. 

Leaders should seek to truly understand the conditions that create such poor wellbeing: long hours on precarious contracts; chronic loneliness; physical fatigue; and a culture of repression and fear. This will help them properly acknowledge the scale of the problem and formulate better strategies to address it.

2. Promote open dialogue

Events like ‘Time to Talk Day’ are all about raising awareness of mental health struggles. The message is simple: we need to be able to talk openly about our wellbeing. And that very much includes the workplace.

Just 5% of employees tell their employers when they experience mental health issues. This level of suppression is only going to exacerbate the problem – as well as creating a sense of isolation and resentment amongst workers. 

In order to change this, leaders should take a varied approach. You cannot simply force people to talk if they aren’t ready to, so there should be a wealth of options for workers to communicate with the leadership about problems they face.

3. Dedicate more resources to wellbeing

There is no getting around it: onsite wellbeing is directly connected to the quality and quantity of facilities workers have access to. Isolation and a lack of communication are inevitably worsened by small, cramped spaces which do not allow employees to be comfortable – even when they’re supposed to be having a break. 

A simple example to improve this is by upgrading your mobile welfare units. With more space and more comfortable seating, employees will be able to properly relax in their downtime. It will also help foster a sense of community and openness, which may lead to better communication.

Better mobile welfare units may also provide better facilities. While things like access to hot water, canteens and WCs may appear like small things, they can have a big impact on employees’ sense of autonomy and safety.

4. Give employees more flexibility

Among the chief causes of negative wellbeing on construction sites is the stress and physical exhaustion that comes from long, gruelling hours. As other industries embrace flexible work patterns, construction leaders should also look to offer employees more control over the hours they work.

Part of this is relieving some of the pressures workers feel onsite. It is common for contractors to expect employees to work to harsh deadlines – even if there are delays in the delivery of materials or planning errors. But this creates an unfair expectation, and is a sure sign that you are not truly prioritising worker wellbeing.

Addressing such problems is likely to have a dramatic impact on factors like absenteeism and work-related sickness, as well as improving loyalty and creating a more positive culture onsite. Along with more open dialogue and better mobile welfare units, this will go a long way to demonstrating that you are taking seriously the wellbeing of your people.

Welfare units and vans provide the backbone of a happy and healthy construction site. But with so many products on the market, it can be difficult to know which will best serve your particular site’s needs. 

In this article, we explore four key factors you should consider before choosing a welfare unit:

1. Cost

It would be nice if money were no object. But for most projects there is a limited budget – and that means you have to be strategic with how you spend. Mobile welfare units vary in price, and it’s important to make a cost-benefit analysis to ensure you don’t under-or-overspend.

There may, for example, be gains to be made from hiring a more expensive welfare unit that will more than cover the cost. There may also be hidden costs to cheaper models, if they do not include service or support.

It’s also worth considering whether you need a full welfare unit – would a welfare van serve you just as well? This may be a way of spending more efficiently without cutting back on quality, as well as increasing the flexibility of your worksite.

Questions to ask:

• How much can you afford to spend on a welfare unit or van?
• What do you expect to get for your money?
• What is included in the price of the welfare unit or van?

2. Employee needs

Welfare units exist primarily to meet the needs of your employees. And given that every workforce has slightly differing needs, it’s important to consider what your specific team will benefit from – as well as the actual size of the team.

Some welfare units – such as our ECO10 Welfare Unit (for up to 10 people) – features far more space and provides better quality facilities than others. Determining whether your employees will benefit from better access to hot water or more comfortable seating is important before making a hiring decision.

Questions to ask:

• How much space do you require?
• What facilities do you require?
• Will you benefit from improving employee wellbeing?

3. Technology

As sites are more heavily scrutinised for their sustainability, the quality of technology they use must improve. Many welfare units are built on inefficient technology, and therefore actively hinder efforts to make your site more sustainable.

More modern technology, however, can be an active benefit. Take our ECOXLI Unit: it makes use of next generation lithium cell batteries and solar technology, minimising the need for generator power. It also operates an intelligent auto system for full telemetry, so you can guarantee it only uses power when necessary.

Questions to ask:

• What kind of power does your welfare unit or van run on?
• How modern is the fleet you are hiring from?
• What are your sustainability goals and will this welfare unit help meet them?

4. Support

Mobile welfare units require regular maintenance, and bringing in a third-party expert to administer this can be costly and time consuming. It’s vital therefore to consider what level of support the company you are hiring from provides.

At Welfare Hire, we pride ourselves on offering comprehensive 24/7 support, as well as scheduling regular maintenance and checkups. This ensures your mobile welfare units are always in great condition, and any issues are resolved as quickly as possible.

Questions to ask:

• Is support included?
• If so, how much support and of what quality?
• What are the costs of disruptions if you do not have comprehensive support?

According to recent research, 49% of construction workers experience work-related stress.¹ The industry now has the highest rates of employee burnout in the UK², and many experts suggest serious changes are needed before it’s too late.

This is exactly why International Stress Awareness Week is so vital. It helps shed light on the need for radical change in the industry’s workplace cultures. And at Welfare Hire, we believe it is our responsibility to support contractors in making this change happen. 

In this article, we explore three ways our innovative mobile welfare units help reduce stress and transform the onsite environment.

1. More space for workers

The construction site is a tough environment, and many workers feel they don’t have the time or space to let off steam in a healthy way. This leads to pent up frustrations and anxiety; combined with physically gruelling work and long shifts, the result can be extreme stress.

Giving workers more space to decompress – and communicate with each other safely – is therefore vital. Our X-Eco10 mobile welfare units provide 20% more internal space than other welfare units, fitting up to 10 people. They are also fitted with comfortable seating, to allow workers to rest properly during their downtime.

2. Improved facilities

Access to great facilities is vital to feeling in control at work. Workers should always feel secure in the knowledge that they can stay clean; have privacy when necessary; and get the provisions they need to stay alert and happy at work.

The X-Eco10 features canteen facilities with controlled heating, mains power and USB ports to create a better environment for colleague wellbeing. There is also on-demand hot running water; separate drying and changing rooms; and a fully functioning work office.

3. Signalling care

Much of the stress that construction workers feel is a result not just of workplace conditions, but of feeling that their wellbeing is not sufficiently valued. Workers feel they cannot talk openly about their struggles, and that is because they are often being sent the wrong signals.

While relatively straightforward to implement, things like temporary traffic lights, signs and Investing in better welfare units may seem like a relatively small step. But introducing facilities specifically designed to create a more open and positive environment for them onsite unquestionably shows that you value their wellbeing.

Reducing stress and increasing your bottom line

While tackling workplace stress is vital, there is also a clear business case for investing in better welfare. 

55% of all absenteeism is caused by work-related mental health problems.³ Between 2017-18, stressful conditions resulted in 400,000 lost days of work in the construction industry.⁴

So reducing workplace stress and increasing mental wellbeing will not only make your employees happier – it will lead to increased productivity and a more positive workplace culture.