Addressing Suicide Risk in the Construction Industry

The construction industry faces many challenges in workforce recruitment and retention. Unfortunately, suicide impacts these challenges further. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 construction workers die by suicide every day in the United States.
It is imperative that contractors and company leaders work to change this. This can be done with training, establishing healthy work cultures, and creating opportunities for employees to ask for and receive help.

ABC National’s STEP Safety Management System™ includes attention to fostering a mentally safe workplace. STEP aims to measure leading indicators of safety, proactively award companies who meet the best safety standards, and identify where risks can be mitigated more effectively.

“As an industry, our success is directly dependent on the talent we attract and retain. The driving imperative behind total human health in our labor-intensive industry is twofold: to address the changing demographics of the workforce and workforce shortage in the skilled trades, and to work to eliminate the high suicide rate among construction workers.” Joe Xavier, Senior Director, Health and Safety at ABC National.

ABC of Wisconsin celebrates our STEP Award recipients. In addition, our safety team works all over the state to help members succeed with safe work environments. Educational programming includes a mental health focus. During the month of September, we are partnering with VitalCog to offer three opportunities for training.

VitalCog provides resources to help the construction industry recognize suicide risk, identify early warning signs, and intervene before a worker hits a crisis. Their programs include training on how to discuss concerns with people who are at-risk, and how to promote healthy discussions within teams. The two-hour courses will be hosted in Madison, Pewaukee and Kaukana, and will include videos, group discussions and role-playing opportunities.

Members are encouraged to register for one of the three training sessions. Together we can reduce the risk of suicide in our communities and build a healthier and safer atmosphere for everyone in the industry.