Daracon Group Join the TradeMutt Club to Shine A Light on Mental Health in Construction

Daracon Group, one of the Hunter’s leading employers has thrown its support behind the social enterprise and Aussie workwear brand TradeMutt to help start conversations around mental health while at work.

With an Employee Assistance Program delivered by EASA already on offer to all employees, Daracon Group has now enhanced their commitment to staff through dedicated mental health first aider training for nominated team members.

“I’m proud to see our Mental Health First Aiders sporting the TradeMutt fractal workshirts to help encourage our team to start a conversation at work about mental health,” said Daracon Group Health Management Advisor, Belinda Boon.  

“Daracon Group Mental Health First Aiders are a fantastic point of contact on the ground, where they can connect teammates with appropriate support both in and outside the workplace,” she said.

TradeMutt was established as a social enterprise by Dan and Ed, two blokes on a mission to make tradies and workers of all kinds look and feel great at work, and in doing so, reduce the rate of blue-collar suicide in Australia. With their loud and vibrant shirts acting as a catalyst to starting the conversation around mental health in men, a topic that has been hard to approach in the past for blokes, mostly due to the attached stigmas and perceived weakness. Fifty percent of profits from the sales of their workwear goes to charity, including tiacs.org a free phone and text counselling service offering mental health support to Australia’s blue-collar community. 

“At Daracon we look at the health of our team holistically and prioritise both physical and mental health to ensure our people are feeling well coming to work each day, fundamentally knowing that they will be supported by our organisation,” said Ms Boon.

2023 ushers in the 40^th anniversary of the Daracon Group, who started from humble beginnings in 1983 with one machine and operator. Now a leading employer in the region with a workforce of almost 900 people, Daracon Group has worked on some of NSW’s landmark infrastructure projects including the Sydney Olympics, Western Sydney Zoo, Lachlan’s Line Bridge, Scone Bypass and the Newcastle Light Rail Wider Road Network to name a few.

EASA’s George Anderson and Sue Benton (pictured first and third on the right) with Daracon Group team members at Buttai Quarry including Health Management Advisor, Belinda Boon and Mental Health First Aider, Neil Anderson (pictured forth and first on the left)