MENTAL HEALTH
If you look back 25 years, you likely won’t recall many conversations
about mental health or suicide prevention, not in construction
or any other industry. But as the entire human race
begins to embrace these issues as health challenges, the situation
is quickly changing for the better.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the construction
industry has the second-highest suicide rate among all
professions, and it leads all industries in the total number of suicides
each year.
However, if you use the phrase “committing suicide” around
Randy Krocka, the health and safety director at Sheet Metal
Occupational Health Institute Trust (SMOHIT), he’ll tell you that
the first thing that needs to change is how we perceive and talk
about the issue.
“‘Committing suicide’ is the wrong way to think about it,” said
Krocka. “We don’t commit cancer. Cancer is a disease process,
just like depression. We need to start viewing poor mental health
as something you get, like any other type of disease that requires
treatment.”
Krocka says that he’s known several people in the construction
industry who decided that suicide was the only way out. He found
that very disturbing and took it upon himself to find a way to be
helpful.
Randy Thompson, VP of business development at LivingWorks
Education, says he also views mental health issues the same as any
other disease that impacts physical health, citing both prevention
and early intervention as two key components to aiding the mental
health crisis in the construction industry.
“It’s so important that organizations provide mental health support,
specifically for suicide prevention, and employees must know
how to access that help if they’re feeling down, let alone suicidal,”
said Thompson. “Shifting the overall culture surrounding mental
health and bringing it out into the open are vital.”
Why construction workers are vulnerable
There’s no getting around the statistics. While the construction
industry sees a high rate of suicide, the list of professions most at
risk for suicide is dominated by blue-collar, mostly male professions
– occupations where instability is at the core.
“It’s just the nature of the business,” said Krocka. “There’s either
too much work or not enough. And when the work dries up, there
are layoffs, and when construction workers get laid off, they lose
liwei12/123RF
Out of the Shadows
The evolution of mental health stigmas and challenges in the construction industry
By Nick Mistretta
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