Suicide prevention is an important construction safety issue

Safety is always a top concern in our industry, but it isn’t just limited to job site accidents.  September is suicide prevention month and sadly, construction has the highest number of suicides of any occupational group.  To help change this, ABC offers a range of resources to support and assist contractors and their employees .

Awareness is the first step.  This toolbox talk will familiarize you with the warning signs of suicide.

Standing up for suicide prevention requires proactively addressing mental health and making it a priority.  That requires creating a safe and caring company culture, which includes making sure your team is trained in how to talk to someone at risk of suicide.  Normalizing conversations around mental health and suicide could be a matter of life and death.

The Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention, of which ABC is a member, recommends a three-level process to help contractors address suicide prevention:

• Level 1 includes basic steps toward establishing a program to address employee mental health and suicide prevention.

• Level 2 grows the initial steps into a deeper commitment to the process.

• Level 3 outlines steps to create a companywide culture to address mental health and suicide prevention.

The Alliance suggest starting with a needs analysis, which can be found here.

We can decrease the risk of suicide in our industry, and an important staring point is  expanding our understanding of worker safety.  ABC supports the work of this important industry-wide alliance, which provides access to a number of tool box talks and other important resources to help.  You can access them at https://preventconstructionsuicide.com/integration_resources.

Kyle Reagan is the chairman of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.-Mass. Chapter, and is CEO of DECCO Inc., Townsend, MA.