Building on Mental Health with Construction Suicide Prevention Week

Each year in September the construction industry comes together to dedicate a week to raising awareness around the heightened rates of suicide among construction workers.

Construction Suicide Prevention Week (CSPW) launched in 2020 and has since developed resources, toolbox talks, and webinars to increase understanding of the industry’s risks and lower the stigma surrounding mental health. Last year, nearly 300,000 construction workers across 47 states and territories participated in the week.

To learn more about CSPW—and the suicide risks construction workers face—BUILDER caught up with CSPW steering committee member Kari English.

“One way employers can start the conversation about mental wellness is by participating in CSPW,” English said. “One of the barriers we’ve heard from the industry about starting the conversation is that those tasked with doing so are often safety professionals who don’t have behavioral or mental health training. These individuals often want to have the conversations and be part of the solution, but they aren’t sure how to get started. We’ve compiled resources to help, including toolbox talks in English and Spanish, a speaker sourcing guide, and printable materials.”

Click here to read more.