The construction industry has the second highest rate of death by suicide and opioid overdoses.
Chronic pain, depression and opioid use are associated with increased risk of suicide. The injury rate for construction workers is 77-percent higher than the national average for other occupations, and unintentional overdosing among construction workers increased 930 percent from 2011 to 2018.
Recognizing the urgent need to address the addiction and suicide epidemic in the industry, IMPACT hosted a series of educational webinars featuring industry experts on the subject.
The first of the webinar series, "No Prayer Cards on the Wall," featured four panelists who have dedicated their lives to addiction recovery and suicide prevention. The webinar addressed how to identify and understand substance abuse issues, prevent opioid overdosing and death by suicide, and discussed mental health issues related to addiction and the best practices for those in a position to help others battling addiction. It also educated participants about how to navigate the best treatment and recovery options.
The next webinar, "Creating a Caring Culture: Suicide Prevention in the Construction Industry," addressed mental health and the well-being of workers. Cal Beyers, vice president of workforce risk and worker well-being for CSDZ, has 30 years of experience in construction safety, wellness and risk management. In this webinar, he pointed out that mental health is an invisible crisis in the construction industry. The pandemic exacerbated the construction industry's issues with mental health, substance use disorders and suicide risk.
The third webinar of the series, "Preventing and Healing Stress: Suicide and Addiction," addressed the role of chronic stress in addiction and suicide, the benefits of healthy relationships at home and work, the impact of loneliness, how cognitive behavioral therapy can help prevent stress and thoughts of suicide, social learning models, and neuroplasticity and digital therapeutics for mental well-being.
Dr. Dustin Kieschnick, associate director of research for the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center, stated that the best way to prevent suicide is to have a "suicide safety plan," which entails increasing the feeling of belonging, distracting from suicidal thoughts, reducing burdens and removing means of suicide.
The fourth webinar, "Addiction and Suicide Epidemic: A Practical Guide for Leading Change," reviewed the scope and impact of the addiction and suicide epidemic in the construction industry and the importance of community-driven problem-solving. The webinar also addressed how to have difficult conversations in the workplace about substance use and suicide and key actions for front-line leaders to address early signs of suicidality on jobsites.
The last webinar of the series, "A Father's Love: Lessons from a Suicide Loss Survivor," tackled the difficult subject of suicide and surviving suicide loss. It discussed how "lived experience" promotes hope and recovery, how to support survivors of suicide and suicide loss, how to identify warning signs of suicide and how to talk to loved ones about suicide. Brad Churchill, CEO of US Erectors Inc., shared his lived experience of losing his son to suicide, with the hope that his experience will help others identify warning signs and prevent suicide.
For more information, visit www.ironworkers.org or www.impact-net.org.
