MENTAL HEALTH
“With any other safety practice, we’re not reactive; we don’t
wait until somebody dies or is severely injured to start putting
safety practices into place. Just like we take the preventative
approach when it comes to physical safety, we need to take
that preventative approach with mental health, as well.”
– Michelle Walker, Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention
According to the Mayo Clinic, many people
with mental illnesses are unaware that their
thoughts or behaviour are atypical and consider
their signs or symptoms a normal part of life.
This makes it especially critical that workplaces
be better equipped to recognize and discuss
mental health issues to keep employees safe.
“People spend more time at work than they
do outside of work; we have a definite role in
recognizing symptoms of mental illness or suicide
risk factors,” said Walker. “If somebody is
dealing with a severe mental illness or is at risk
of suicide, they’re at a place of despair. Their
mind is not going to be on the job and they’re
not going to be safe for themselves or others on
the work site. It’s in everybody’s best interest to
help them.”
Risk factors:
Sound familiar?
The majority of the Canadian construction
workforce is male; consider that men, especially
white men in their early 20s through their
50s, are most at risk for suicide, and it’s easy to
see by demographics alone why the construction
workforce could be identified as having a
heightened risk for suicide.
Looking beyond statistics alone, however,
the nature of certain aspects of the construction
industry create risk factors that
compound the concern for people predisposed
to suicidal thoughts.
Typical construction culture
“Culture is probably one of the biggest factors,
and one of the areas that we can prevent,” said
Walker. “Think about the traditional construction
culture – the tough guy, getting the
job done at all costs.”
The manner in which leaders are often promoted
in the industry also has a role to play.
“People typically get promoted based on
their technical abilities, and not necessary on
their leadership or management skills,” said
Walker. “This can create issues for people from
not having clearer, positive leadership or having
leaders whose only mode of directing or guiding
their employees is through negative, almost
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