Construction Suicide Prevention Week kicked off Sept. 8 with a moment of silence across nationwide jobsites for those affected by suicide, drawing over an estimated 400,000 participants represented by more than 650 AEC firms, according to event organizers.
The full scope and size of the weeklong event won’t be realized until next month, with organizers telling ENR that firms have until the end of September to register participation and join in related programming to be included in this year’s data.
Yet since its start in 2019, Construction Suicide Prevention Week has become an ongoing conversation about mental health in construction as leading industry executives look to recruit, retain and strengthen the next generation of workers.
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If you or someone you know is in crisis, call, text, or chat 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or text HELLO to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line.
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“We know that tackling mental health in construction is not a one-and-done effort,” says Bechtel Chairman and CEO Brendan Bechtel, founding member of the CEO Advisory Council on industry suicide prevention, which assembled for an inaugural meeting in March. Leaders of Fluor, Turner Construction Co., North America’s Building Trades Unions, Kiewit, Clark Construction and Skanska also were in attendance and pledged to collaborate on suicide prevention efforts and mental health advocacy.
Suicide prevention “requires constant attention and better tools in the hands of those who need them most,” Bechtel notes. For many workers, using such tools begin before they step onto a jobsite, he adds.
Sounding the Alarm on the ‘Silent Epidemic’
Cal Beyer, Senior Director, National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention,
Image courtesy of Cal Beyer
At times characterized as a “silent epidemic,” suicide rates among construction workers are more than four times higher than the general population, according to 2021 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other reported data says industry workers had the second-highest rate of suicide, behind those in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction.
To address such alarming rates, National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention Senior Director Cal Beyer says the more noise the industry can raise, the better it is for suicide prevention and integrating mental health care into workforce safety efforts.
“A positive development is that today there are more and better tools and resources to help employers address mental well-being,” he says, adding that job sites hosting toolbox talks, safety stand-downs and initiatives such as Construction Suicide Prevention Week all call attention to the industry-wide problem.
Beyer adds that “real change” must start and be supported at the top, “when managers and frontline supervisors are provided with training on how to recognize signs and symptoms, and how to initiate conversations to support and encourage referrals for help,” he says.
In a statement to ENR, Tricia Thibodeaux, Fluor vice president of global health, safety, environmental and quality, says manager training has become a cornerstone in the firm’s aim to create a culture where “employees feel safe discussing their mental health and asking for help.”
Fluor managers “are taking workforce wellbeing and suicide prevention training to help them foster psychologically safe environments,” she says “Our front-line workers are building on skills they learn during [Construction] Suicide Prevention Week, and throughout the year, to make mental well-being conversations a routine topic alongside other safety matters.”
Thibodeaux adds that partnerships have also played a big role in developing industry-specific solutions to mental health challenges in the forms of training and accessing mental well-being resources.
Building a Coalition of Care
In addition to a global stand down observed by more than 32,500 employees, in August Bechtel rolled out its Hard Hat Courage coalition in partnership with the CEO Advisory Council and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The initiative’s website features 12 Toolbox Talks as well as a list of resources and mental health tools for workers.
The tools “put help within reach—anytime, anywhere—so no one in our construction family has to face a mental health struggle alone,” says Bechtel, with the Virginia-based global contractor last year announcing a $7-million investment over five years for the foundation. “It’s another step toward making mental health care as routine and accessible as a hard hat on the job site,” he adds.
Turner, also member of the Hard Hat Courage coalition, also pledged a five-year commitment through its Turner Foundation nonprofit with a $5-million investment to construction suicide prevention efforts. The firm announced Sept. 8 that it has also introduced Lyra Health as a mental health benefit for employees and their families to access cost-free services such as confidential counseling, coaching, therapy and stress management tools.
“It is our responsibility to look out for one another and ensure no one feels they are facing life’s challenges alone,” says Turner Chairman and CEO Peter Davoren in a statement announcing the firm is rolling out mental health training and information sessions across more than 1,000 job sites and offices.
Battling Mental Health Blindspots
Russ Becker, APi Group CEO and President
Image courtesy of Russ Becker
After his family had been personally affected by mental health challenges, APi Group CEO and President Russell Becker and his wife, Trish, helped establish the Care Factor Fund through the Minnesota-based specialty contracting giant’s APi Group Foundation.
The company launched the fund in June with over $1 million to support its 29,000 employees, their children or dependents who have faced unexpected challenges related to mental health or substance abuse. Included in the fund is a personal $250,000 donation from Becker that was matched by three members of APi Group’s board of directors.
To date, the company says it has been able to help two teammates and their families and expects that more will step forward.
“Early on, I didn’t fully appreciate [mental health’s] impact at work, but through my own experiences and by listening to teammates, I’ve realized how essential well-being is for both individuals and the whole team,” Becker says. “Now I try to lead with empathy and self-awareness. As I am checking in with others, I encourage open conversations.”
The nature of the construction industry can make open conversations challenging, he adds.
“What makes our industry particularly challenging for mental health is the combination of physical risk, job insecurity and a culture where toughness is sometimes valued over vulnerability,” says Becker. “In my experience, work in the trades often takes the greatest toll on mental health in frontline roles where the physical and emotional demands are highest.”
Addressing Deep-Rooted Challenges
According to Beyer, an unwillingness to talk about substance use as a means to soothe job site stressors has also been a major challenge.
“It has been easier to talk to companies about overdoses than about addressing alcohol, prescription and illicit drug use among workers,” he says. Data released last year from a National Survey on Drug Use conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration found that 15% of U.S. construction workers have a substance abuse disorder compared to 8.9% of the general population. Construction workers are also twice as likely to suffer from substance abuse than the national average.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid abuse and addiction in the industry shows workers with the highest mortality rates related to drug overdose deaths and prescription opioid–related overdose deaths.
“As data confirmed there was a crisis, early adopters jumped in to help address it by stocking naloxone in workplaces and on job sites,” says Beyer. “This is a great life-saving effort, and it begs the question—why are we not talking about substance use? In our industry, we’re ‘fixers;’ once a problem is known we take action. However, stigma about mental health, substance use and suicide remains a barrier to people seeking help.”
He adds, “We need to continue to shift toward a prevention mindset to address root causes of substance use, break down stigma and encourage help seeking and recovery.”
