Work is often cited as the number one cause of stress.
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), around 964,000 workers in Great Britain reported work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in 2024/25, accounting for 51% of all work-related ill health cases.
Further research by MHFA in 2026 suggests that approximately 9 in 10 employees experience high levels of work-related stress or pressure, with factors such as excessive demands, lack of support, and poor working conditions playing a significant role.
In demolition, these pressures are a reality we often face. Tight programmes, changing site conditions, coordination with multiple contractors, and the constant need to maintain safety standards all place sustained demands on individuals and teams.
Stress is a powerful and natural response to mental or emotional pressure; it is subjective and what can cause one person to feel stressed may not affect someone else.
On site, this might be the pressure of a deadline slipping, an unexpected structural issue, or the responsibility of managing safety in a high-risk environment.
It is unique to us all; we all view it through a different lens.
Yet there are those of us who have said, and I quote, ‘I work better under stress’ – a phrase often heard on site, particularly when deadlines are tight and the pressure is on to keep the job moving but what does that mean and how does stress relate to motivation before it becomes distress?
One model highlighting the relationship between stress and performance was developed by psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dodson in 1908. The stress and performance curve is a bell-shaped trajectory that charts this relationship.
It is known as the Yerkes-Dodson law and it dictates that performance increases with pressure, but only up to a point. When pressure becomes too much, our performance is affected and decreases.
Pressure or stress levels run along the bottom of the curve (captioned as the ‘Arousal Level’) and performance runs from the bottom to top (captioned as the ‘Performance Quality’, with various zones spread along the curve.
In the first stage, pressure levels are low and can lead to boredom. If a task is too easy or there are no deadlines or targets to meet, then our performance tends to be poor.
On site, this can present itself during delays, waiting on permits, access, or sequencing, where productivity drops and engagement begins to slip.
You may be able to relate to this by thinking about those slow days we have all experienced, when finishing even the smallest task is an effort; at this point it is easy to feel demotivated and disengaged.
“Busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do”
So, we do need some pressure to motivate us. However, as that pressure builds, we move into optimum stress where we feel focused and in flow, firing on all cylinders.
This is where a well-planned demolition project comes together; clear communication, defined roles, and a team working in sync to deliver safely and efficiently.
We are highly motivated and take challenges in our stride; this is when we are at our period of maximum efficiency.
Yet very quickly, when pressure or performance demands become too high, or when we are in a prolonged period of pressure, we become overloaded with stress.
It is at this point where our performance starts to deteriorate, and we become more reactive and anxious; mistakes start to happen.
Research from Health and Safety Executive consistently links stress and fatigue to increased human error, reduced concentration, and impaired decision-making in high-risk industries.
On demolition sites, this can mean rushed decisions, breakdowns in communication, or a loss of focus on critical safety processes.
It becomes more difficult to manage emotions and feelings, all of which can trigger a further downward spiral into burnout and eventually breakdown.
When we are overloaded with stress or in the early stages of burnout, it is easy to focus too much on the task at hand and not on yourself or the team – getting the job done becomes the priority.
In a high-risk environment, this shift in focus can have serious consequences, not just for productivity, but for safety and the wellbeing of those on site.
Data from the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) highlights that mental health challenges remain a significant issue across construction, with stress and pressure contributing to absenteeism, reduced productivity, and workforce attrition.
This is when we falsely believe our performance will improve if we keep working harder.
The reality is that rather than getting better and better, our performance decreases – we lose focus, we frantically multitask, make mistakes, and the quality of our work suffers.
Smart people start doing stupid things.
For demolition businesses, this becomes an operational issue. Reduced performance can lead to rework, delays, increased costs, and heightened safety risks.
So, my questions to you are: ‘Where are you on the curve right now?’ and ‘Where do you spend most of your time?’
On your current project, are you operating in that optimal zone, or are you pushing into overload without realising it?
By answering these questions truthfully, you are at the first stage of managing and reducing your stress levels, because self-awareness is the first step to self-regulation.
For businesses, encouraging this awareness within teams is a key step in maintaining both performance and safety on site.
When I am feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious, I try to remind myself of this quote by Maureen Killoran:
“Stress is not what happens to us. It is our response to what happens. And response is something we can choose.”
Written for the NFDC by David Price, Vector Equilibrium
Updated by the Editors @ NFDC
Resources
We have presentations, leaflets, and posters which you can download and print to support your teams on-site.
Originally published Apr 17, 2026 12:11:47 PM, updated April 17 2026.
