Underground Infrastructure - January 2023 - 25

MENTALHEALTH
Mental Health Issues, Suicides
Reaching Crisis/Epidemic Levels
Harry Miller | Vice President, Director of Safety and Labor Relations, SAK Construction
When I began my career in construction over 30 years ago,
mental health and suicide were not on anyone's list of concerns
in our industry. Now, as a safety director, I strive each
day to protect our workers from this hidden threat that has
risen to become a crisis in our industry.
Like others in safety, I spend the majority of my time focusing
on the tangible issues plaguing our industry. Those
visible, daily hazards on our job site include important safety
concerns such as confined space entry, traffic control, fall protection
and PPE, to name a few. Each day we strive to ensure
our workers return home safely to their families.
Naturally, when I was asked to write this article, I started
by researching one of my company's biggest, visible concerns,
confined space entry. Each year we hear about needless casualties
of workers entering confined spaces who are not properly
trained or have the correct equipment.
However, when I reviewed the safety statistics, it was clear
that mental health issues and related suicides are now becoming
an epidemic plaguing our construction industry that many
may not fully understand.
When I speak about mental health issues to our crews and
the industry, I emphasize that two major issues appear to be
driving the increased rates of diagnosis: a lack of recognition
and opioid use. Before we can begin to address the issue, our
industry needs to recognize mental health problems and adequately
train our workers to discuss them openly.
The alarming problem with mental health is that low detection
is leading to a rapidly rising rate of suicides in the
construction industry. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) recently found that in 2015, suicide rates
were highest among males in the Construction and Extraction
occupational group (53.2 per 100,000 civilian non-institutionalized
working persons.
Incredibly, this number is four times higher than the national
suicide average. Additionally, suicide rates are five times
higher than overall construction deaths, so based on that fact
alone, it qualifies as one of the OSHA Focus Four hazards.
High suicide rates
So, why is the suicide rate so high in construction? Experts
believe that many contributing factors affect these statistics,
but one that stands out is the lack of recognition of mental
health problems in the industry. Construction is historically
a male-dominated industry with a " tough guy " mentality and
reputation. I've often witnessed societal pressures specifically
encouraging men not to show emotion or weakness because
they believe their peer group would not understand and may
view them as weak.
Combined with the fact that many in construction work
remotely and are away from home, mental health issues are
aggravated when isolated and separated from the support of
friends and family. This feeling of isolation can often lead to
additional personal issues, including gambling, infidelity, and
drug or alcohol abuse. Lastly, the pressure of construction
jobs to meet tight schedules, as well as concerns about job
security, constantly adds fuel to the fire.
Another major contributing factor is construction workers'
use of opioid-based drugs. Construction work is a physically
demanding profession that takes its toll on a person's body.
Many construction workers suffer from chronic pain that for
years was treated with potentially addictive opioid-type drugs,
and unfortunately, now the industry has the highest use of
prescription opioids.
We read every day about the opioid addiction crisis in the
U.S. and the devastation it is causing. In general, construction
workers have nearly twice the rate of substance abuse versus
UndergroundInfrastructure.com | JANUARY 2023 25
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Underground Infrastructure - January 2023

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