Leaders from the construction industry, labor unions and educators teamed with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to address the high suicide rate among construction and extraction workers, the U.S. Department of Labor announced recently.
Workers in the construction and extraction industries are four times more likely to commit suicide than people in the general population, OSHA reported in the Sept. 6 announcement. The goal of the task force is to raise awareness of stressors for construction workers and to encourage employers to provide resources information to workers, the announcement reports.
Doug Parker, OSHA assistant secretary, said construction workers must deal with seasonal, uncertain work schedules; job travel; dangerous, physical work; long work days; and strict schedules.
"Left unchecked," Parker said in the report, "these stressors can affect mental health severely and lead to anxiety, depression, substance abuse and – in some cases – suicide.”
The suicide rate of construction workers in 2018 was five times higher than all other work-related fatalities in the construction industry, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first Construction Suicide Prevention Week was observed in 2021 and attracted more than 68,000 workers in 43 states to participate, OSHA reports.
This year, the task force invited construction industry employers, trade groups and other stakeholders to participate in the Suicide Prevention Safety Stand-Down. The week-long event, held from Sept. 5 to Sept. 9, sought "to raise awareness of unique mental health challenges construction workers face by asking employers to pause work for a moment to share information and resources and urge employees to seek help if needed," the report states.
“Suicide can be prevented with professional help and assistance,” Parker said in the announcement. “OSHA encourages employers, industry associations, labor organizations and workers to use all available resources to understand the problem and the warning signs of depression before tragedy strikes.”
