Contractors Shine a Light on Industry’s Suicide Problem
Date Posted: September 10, 2024
Posted In: Discussion, Organizations, Workforce,
From Construction Dive: This week is Construction Suicide Prevention Week, and, on Monday, workers on jobsites across the country will stand down to address the crisis. The nature of the high-stress work and cultural factors contribute to construction’s high suicide risk, experts say, and support groups and industry leaders are increasingly trying to curb the issue.
“We definitely see construction workers are overrepresented in overdose and suicide fatalities,” said Amber Trueblood, data center director for the Center for Construction Research and Training — CPWR, during a Sept. 5 webinar.
The suicide death rate for construction workers was 2.4 times higher than all industries (46.1 vs. 19.5 per 100,000 full time employees) in 2022, and there were five times more suicides in construction than at-work fatalities that year, the most recently available set of data.
Dive Insight:
“The construction industry just comes with its own distinct risk factors that can contribute to suicide death,” said Jessica Bunting, research to practice director at CPWR, during the webinar, which also featured speakers from The Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Factors that contribute to suicide risk in construction, Bunting said, include extreme pressure to work quickly with a low margin for error, a male-dominated demographic that creates a “tough-guy” mentality, alcohol and drug use, poor access and utilization of healthcare, job instability or uncertainty and high injury rates that lead to chronic pain.