By Matt Klemmensen, Casualty Loss Control Expert, Munich Re Specialty – North America

Coming off the heels of Construction Suicide Prevention Week (September 14–18), it is clear that the construction industry has recognized and is working toward solutions to the industry mental health crisis. Despite the attention, the crisis continues. Construction worker suicide rates are approximately 53.3 per 100,000 workers, 400% higher than the national average.¹ For every construction workplace fatality, there are approximately five workers who take their own life.² Industry-wide, that’s approximately 15 deaths per day, or almost 6,000 per year.³ The aggregate numbers are terrible, but the costs are worse for society.

Six thousand is a staggering number of human beings to lose across the industry each year: family members, friends, and coworkers. That is 6,000 families impacted and countless children who will grow up without a mother or father. Moreover, at a time when backlogs are growing, and there are labor shortages in the skilled trades, the economic impacts are undeniable. Direct costs, including compensation benefits, lost productivity, and replacement hiring and training, can reach nearly 1 million USD for a single suicide. Some sources estimate nearly 3.6 billion USD in lost productivity, recruitment, and training costs.

The construction industry uniquely combines a variety of known risk factors linked to suicide risk, including the prevalence of chronic pain, economic instability from work seasonality, elevated substance abuse rates, demanding travel and schedule factors, and high divorce rates. In addition, the workforce is nearly 90% male, and existing cultural factors make males more prone to suicide. Aggregating these factors makes those at highest risk the least likely to seek help.

Significant reduction in the suicide rates within construction will take a major cultural shift among the workforce to destigmatize mental health and decouple male “value” from productivity. Business owners and contractors can now play a role in facilitating change through awareness, business planning, and targeted changes to the culture in the workplace.

• Awareness is the best way to remove stigma.
  Engage employees via toolbox talks, industry stand-downs, and communications from trusted coworkers within the crews.
• Provide employees and supervisors with Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR).
  There are also similar mental health/suicide prevention training resources available.
• Develop a culture of peer support.
  Train workers in active listening and crisis intervention. Workers are far more likely to confide in each other than seek professional counseling. Give them the tools to make a difference in each other’s lives.
• Make an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or Member Assistance Program (MAP) available to employees.
  Ensure employees are aware of its existence; can easily access, especially during night and weekend hours; and can easily obtain services. Talk to your employees about the types of assistance programs and modes of communication (phone, text, etc.) that they would feel most comfortable using.
• Provide substance abuse resources and treatment options as part of employee benefits.
  Choose workers’ comp medical providers that offer non-opioid pain management.
• Proactively seek to prevent chronic pain.
  Provide tools, processes, and workspaces intended to reduce cumulative stress injuries. Make stretching programs mandatory. Select employee medical plans with coverage features for generous physical therapy and medical massage.
• Diversify project work.
  This can aim to minimize layoffs during winter or other “slow” periods.
• Actively manage workloads and maintain staffing levels to help prevent burnout.
  Plan more float into schedules.

For those interested in establishing or improving mental health programs or simply fostering a workplace that does not contribute to the construction suicide endemic, the following organizations maintain a wealth of information and resources to help:

• Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP) preventconstructionsuicide.com
• Construction Suicide Prevention Week (CSPW) constructionsuicideprevention.com 
• Construction Safety Research Alliance (CSRA) csra.colorado.edu
• Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) osha.gov/preventingsuicides

Matt Klemmensen is a Casualty Loss Control Expert at Munich Re Specialty – North America. Before joining Munich Re Specialty, he held numerous risk engineering leadership roles at global insurance organizations. He holds the Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) designation from the International Risk Management Institute and a LEED Green Associate from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the individual experts and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or endorsement of Munich Re Specialty. This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only.