“There are five times as many workers who die by suicide
than by physical job site fatalities each year,” said Michelle
Walker, chair of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide
Prevention. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released
a report in 2018 concluding that more construction workers
die by suicide each year than any other industry. Outside of
an industry lens, says Walker, the construction industry sui-cide
rate is four times that of the general population.
“There’s definitely a distinct need in the construction
industry to focus on suicide prevention,” said Walker. “The
effort we put into job site safety and preventative factors
needs to also be put into emotional factors and mental well-being.
We need to implement the safety 24/7 approach –
making it as important that our workers get back to work in
the morning as it is important that they go home at the end
of each shift.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, many people with mental
illnesses are unaware that their thoughts or behaviour are
atypical and consider their signs or symptoms a normal part
of life. This makes it especially critical that workplaces be bet-ter
equipped to recognize and discuss mental health issues to
keep employees safe.
“People spend more time at work than they do outside
of work; we have a definite role in recognizing symptoms of
mental illness or suicide risk factors,” said Walker. “If some-body
is dealing with a severe mental illness or is at risk of sui-cide,
they’re at a place of despair. Their mind is not going to
be on the job and they’re not going to be safe for themselves
or others on the work site. It’s in everybody’s best interest to
help them.”
Risk factors: Sound familiar?
The majority of the Canadian construction workforce is male;
consider that men, especially white men in their early 20s
through their 50s, are most at risk for suicide, and it’s easy to
see by demographics alone why the construction workforce
could be identified as having a heightened risk for suicide.
Looking beyond statistics alone, however, the nature of
certain aspects of the construction industry create risk fac-tors
that compound the concern for people predisposed to
suicidal thoughts.
Typical construction culture
“Culture is probably one of the biggest factors, and one of the
areas that we can prevent,” said Walker. “Think about the
traditional construction culture – the tough guy, getting the
job done at all costs.”
The manner in which leaders are often promoted in the
industry also has a role to play.
“People typically get promoted based on their technical
abilities, and not necessary on their leadership or manage-ment
skills,” said Walker. “This can create issues for people
from not having clearer, positive leadership or having leaders
whose only mode of directing or guiding their employees is
through negative, almost stigmatizing behaviour.” Unhealthy
management styles, especially those involving shame and
humiliation as part of the discipline process, can feed into a
toxic culture.
“When you look at the main contributing factors to suicide
risk, perceived burdensome is one – ‘I’m no good, the world
would be better off without me’ – these types of thoughts,”
said Walker. “When you put together that lack of belonging-ness
with a manager who is unhealthfully guiding and not
disciplining with positive behaviour, you can see where that
can be a huge contributing factor to someone at risk.”
Remote work and industry demands
Remote construction projects require workers to be away
from their homes, sometimes for long periods of time.
Separation from family or friends can be isolating and restrict
access to those critical support systems, in addition to the
family issues that can result from extended absences.
For projects in any location, the low margin for error
that exists in construction can create extreme pressure for
some people.
“If you screw something up on a construction project, it
can be a really big deal,” said Walker. “There’s not a lot of
room for slight slipups – that pressure can build on people.”
Beyond that, changing crews and the seasonal nature of
the work provides an inconsistent team environment, creat-ing
a barrier in what could be a more stable support system
to a person at risk for suicide. Additionally, too much time
between projects or layoffs can result in financial issues,
MENTA L H E A LT H
TRAINING A BASELINE
The Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP)
partnered with a training program offered by LivingWorks, a
Calgary-based leader in suicide prevention training solutions.
LivingWorks provides several different training programs, but
CIASP recommends one in particular called Start due to its ease
of access.
“It’s a 60- to 90-minute online training program,” said Michelle
Walker, chair of CIASP. “It’s interactive and customized to the
user. It’s situational-based learning, and allows you to walk
through how you would respond to different situations – what
are the warning signs to pick up on, and how do you react?”
The training is meant to be a baseline; after completion, a
participant would be better equipped to ask someone in their
workplace if they’re contemplating suicide. The LivingWorks Start
program is only CAD$36.
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