Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate

Vambram said:

Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate

The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions with an estimated 6,000 construction workers dying as a result of suicide in 2022.

www.yahoo.com

The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions — with the rate among male construction workers 75% higher than men in the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 6,000 construction workers by suicide in 2022, an increase from 2021, according to the most recent data available. That compares to around 1,000 who died from a construction work-related injury.

“When you’re more likely to be killed by your own hands than to get killed in a jobsite accident, that’s a crisis in our industry,” said Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and workforce for the Associated General Contractors of America. “We know pretty much what needs to happen to protect people physically. We’re figuring out how to protect people mentally.”

While construction wages are up and jobs are plentiful, those in the industry fear that the pressures on their workers’ mental health are only getting worse. A recent surge in construction projects, spurred by billions of federal dollars for infrastructure, clean energy and semiconductor projects have put increasing strain on an already stretched workforce.

As a result, workers are putting in more than 10-hour days in harsh weather conditions, facing high-pressure deadlines and having to spend months away from home living in hotels, temporary workforce housing or their vehicles. There is also the risk of workplace injuries and a higher rate of opioid misuse along with the general financial instability of hourly work.

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ThatRobGuy said:

There's a lot of different factors going into this, and while it's sad, it makes sense when you consider all the factors.

Having a few extended family members in that line of work (thankfully no suicides), I've observed some of it.

Some of it's due to working conditions, some of it due to the "culture of the job"

Per the NIH
The national average for an “alcohol use disorder” is 5.5%; that rate skyrockets to 12% among construction workers, and they are 150% more likely to be diagnosed with a substance use disorder than other full-time workers.

Apologies if any of these aspects have already been touched on:

- There's more travel than you expect for some of those gigs, and it's not in the best of accommodations. My one family member once spent upwards of 3 months in a crummy Motel 6 on a job. In a nasty part of town, 100 miles away from his family. Certain things are more likely to happen in that kind of environment.

- It's a job where you can end up having to rely on pain pills (which can exacerbate problems). You throw your back out on the job, you find a way to work through it because "no work" = "no pay"

-There's a culture of "drinking on the job", and it's almost encouraged as a "right of passage" to be "one of the guys". My cousin started in that field when he was 22. And younger guys, not wanting to be seen as "not cool" and wanting to be accepted by the "veterans" will often go along with it. What started out as "it's pretty cool, Mike brings a cooler of beer to the job site", in a matter of 2-3 years, turns into bringing you own cooler with beer, having another 2-3 beers over the lunch hour, couple more cold ones in the afternoon, and finishing out the day by heading over to the nearest watering hole for more drinks after the shift is done.

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Vambram said:

As a result, workers are putting in more than 10-hour days in harsh weather conditions, facing high-pressure deadlines and having to spend months away from home living in hotels, temporary workforce housing or their vehicles.

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Vambram said:

Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate

The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions with an estimated 6,000 construction workers dying as a result of suicide in 2022.

www.yahoo.com

The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions — with the rate among male construction workers 75% higher than men in the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 6,000 construction workers by suicide in 2022, an increase from 2021, according to the most recent data available. That compares to around 1,000 who died from a construction work-related injury.

“When you’re more likely to be killed by your own hands than to get killed in a jobsite accident, that’s a crisis in our industry,” said Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and workforce for the Associated General Contractors of America. “We know pretty much what needs to happen to protect people physically. We’re figuring out how to protect people mentally.”

While construction wages are up and jobs are plentiful, those in the industry fear that the pressures on their workers’ mental health are only getting worse. A recent surge in construction projects, spurred by billions of federal dollars for infrastructure, clean energy and semiconductor projects have put increasing strain on an already stretched workforce.

As a result, workers are putting in more than 10-hour days in harsh weather conditions, facing high-pressure deadlines and having to spend months away from home living in hotels, temporary workforce housing or their vehicles. There is also the risk of workplace injuries and a higher rate of opioid misuse along with the general financial instability of hourly work.

Click to expand...

ThatRobGuy said:

There's a lot of different factors going into this, and while it's sad, it makes sense when you consider all the factors.

Having a few extended family members in that line of work (thankfully no suicides), I've observed some of it.

Some of it's due to working conditions, some of it due to the "culture of the job"

Per the NIH
The national average for an “alcohol use disorder” is 5.5%; that rate skyrockets to 12% among construction workers, and they are 150% more likely to be diagnosed with a substance use disorder than other full-time workers.

Apologies if any of these aspects have already been touched on:

- There's more travel than you expect for some of those gigs, and it's not in the best of accommodations. My one family member once spent upwards of 3 months in a crummy Motel 6 on a job. In a nasty part of town, 100 miles away from his family. Certain things are more likely to happen in that kind of environment.

- It's a job where you can end up having to rely on pain pills (which can exacerbate problems). You throw your back out on the job, you find a way to work through it because "no work" = "no pay"

-There's a culture of "drinking on the job", and it's almost encouraged as a "right of passage" to be "one of the guys". My cousin started in that field when he was 22. And younger guys, not wanting to be seen as "not cool" and wanting to be accepted by the "veterans" will often go along with it. What started out as "it's pretty cool, Mike brings a cooler of beer to the job site", in a matter of 2-3 years, turns into bringing you own cooler with beer, having another 2-3 beers over the lunch hour, couple more cold ones in the afternoon, and finishing out the day by heading over to the nearest watering hole for more drinks after the shift is done.

He went from a person who didn't really drink much at all at 22, to a guy who drank 12+ beers per day by the time he was 25. (and would get irritable if he didn't have it)

- It's not necessarily a hospitable environment for people perceived to be "doing things wrong" or "causing other people more work". It's not a graceful training environment. You make a mistake, you're getting called all kinds of names by your co-workers and "shunned" for a while.

- There's a fear of being viewed as "weak" by co-workers. If you're in pain, and having a hard time keeping up, there's a good chance you'll be called a word that doubles as both a name for a cat, as well as a name for female anatomy.


You combine all those factors together
"I've been away from my friends and family for 3 months, my back is killing me, if I don't have some beers with the boys they won't like me, I have to take pain pills to get by, and if I turn down their offer to go to the strip club and drink with them after work, they'll call me XYZ"

It's easy to understand why they have trouble in that regard.

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iluvatar5150 said:

On top of that, there's often low pay, dangerous working conditions and unsafe practices, and rampant sexism and abuse. Even the best working environment will still leave your body broken by the time you're in your 40's.

Folks like to criticize elitist libs for perceiving trades work as being beneath them - and that's happened to a degree - but the reality is that the people within the trades do far more damage to each other than any prissy lib has done. I want these jobs to be safer, more remunerative, and more prestigious, but that's not going to happen until the folks working within them change.

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ThatRobGuy said:

Oddly enough (at least in my younger cousin's case), the pay was the one thing that actually wasn't too bad. Between his hours and OT (and some of the "vets" obviously know the tips and tricks for how to create "OT Opportunities" for the crew) he actually did fairly well for a guy his age in that regard.

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Vambram said:

Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate

The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions with an estimated 6,000 construction workers dying as a result of suicide in 2022.

www.yahoo.com

The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions — with the rate among male construction workers 75% higher than men in the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 6,000 construction workers by suicide in 2022, an increase from 2021, according to the most recent data available. That compares to around 1,000 who died from a construction work-related injury.

“When you’re more likely to be killed by your own hands than to get killed in a jobsite accident, that’s a crisis in our industry,” said Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and workforce for the Associated General Contractors of America. “We know pretty much what needs to happen to protect people physically. We’re figuring out how to protect people mentally.”

While construction wages are up and jobs are plentiful, those in the industry fear that the pressures on their workers’ mental health are only getting worse. A recent surge in construction projects, spurred by billions of federal dollars for infrastructure, clean energy and semiconductor projects have put increasing strain on an already stretched workforce.

As a result, workers are putting in more than 10-hour days in harsh weather conditions, facing high-pressure deadlines and having to spend months away from home living in hotels, temporary workforce housing or their vehicles. There is also the risk of workplace injuries and a higher rate of opioid misuse along with the general financial instability of hourly work.

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eleos1954 said:

Limit the hours worked ....

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Desk trauma said:

…and watch your workers leave to projects giving more hours.

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BCP1928 said:

Where are the unions in all of this?

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BCP1928 said:

A real union wouldn't allow it to continue.

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Desk trauma said:

Nonexistent in most places, I have never been in a union while working construction and only been on a few projects with any union involvement.


Union craft hands work similar OT heavy schedules just with more protections and benefits.

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