Every year, during September — National Suicide Prevention Month — the construction industry dedicates a week to raising awareness about the unique challenges workers face in construction, how it can lead to suicide, and what we can do to prevent it. Together, we can save lives.
Construction Suicide Prevention Week is dedicated to raising awareness about the high number of suicides in the industry and to providing resources to help prevent those deaths.
Awareness
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates compared to other industries. In 2016, the suicide rate for men in construction and extraction occupations was 49.4/100,000, which is almost twice the total suicide rate for civilian working men in 32 states and five times greater than the rate for all fatal work-related injuries in the construction industry in 2018 (9.5/100,000).
The Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (preventconstructionsuicide.com) says, "There are approximately three jobsite fatalities in construction every day and an estimated 10 to 12 suicides among construction workers. In the construction industry, mental health awareness and suicide prevention are just as important as job safety issues.
"Now is the time for the industry to STAND up for suicide prevention and address it as a health and safety priority by creating safe cultures, providing training to identify and help those at risk, raising awareness about the suicide crisis in construction, normalizing conversations around suicide and mental health, and ultimately decreasing the risks associated with suicide in construction."
Resources
Construction Suicide Prevention Week resources — important numbers to call (hotlines for suicide prevention, substance abuse, mental health, and more), resources for construction employers (toolbox talks, videos, flyers & helpful links), and a host of links to articles & blogs — are at https://constructionsuicideprevention.com/resources.
The Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention provides many excellent resources, including toolbox talks. A good place to start is https://preventconstructionsuicide.com/STAND_UP_for_Suicide_Prevention
For a fact sheet on suicide prevention from the Center for Construction Research and Training, go to:
https://www.cpwr.com/wp-content/uploads/Suicide-Prevention-Hazard-Alert.pdf
The Center for Construction Research and Training provides many other resources:
