{"id":10214,"date":"2019-09-12T07:42:59","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T07:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ontarioconstructionreport.com\/?p=10214"},"modified":"2019-09-12T07:42:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T07:42:59","slug":"construction-workers-at-high-risk-of-suicide-due-to-psychosocial-hazards-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ontarioconstructionreport.com\/construction-workers-at-high-risk-of-suicide-due-to-psychosocial-hazards-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction workers at high risk of suicide due to psychosocial hazards in the workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Donna Mayer<\/strong><\/p>\n A mental health crisis at Britain\u2019s largest construction project is pushing the alarming suicide rate among construction workers to the front pages.<\/p>\n More than one construction worker a day takes his own life in the U.K., three times the U.K. suicide rate for men. In the U.S., the suicide rate among construction workers is four times their national average. In Canada, we just don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n According to The Guardian<\/a>, union officials at the Hinkley Point nuclear power station construction site say they have been told of 10 suicide attempts in the first four months of 2019.<\/p>\n The main causes of the distress appear to be loneliness, relationship breakdown and the struggle of being sometimes hundreds of miles away from family.<\/p>\n More than 1,400\u00a0construction workers took their own lives\u00a0between 2011 and 2015 in the U.K, according to their Office for National Statistics. Records show that 450 construction workers died by suicide in 2016.<\/p>\n The European Union requires employers to assess psychosocial hazards in the workplace. According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, psychosocial risks and work-related stress are among the most challenging issues in occupational safety and health.<\/p>\n Examples of working conditions leading to psychosocial risks are:<\/p>\n Contributing factors include a higher prevalence of alcohol and substance abuse, separation from families, and long stretches without work.<\/p>\n The risk of suicide in different occupations has been extensively studied in the U.K. and internationally.<\/p>\n According to a\u00a0recent study from the HYPERLINK “https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/67\/wr\/mm6745a1.htm?s_cid=mm6745a1_w”U.S. HYPERLINK “https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/67\/wr\/mm6745a1.htm?s_cid=mm6745a1_w”Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, more\u00a0construction workers<\/a>\u00a0take their lives than any other industry.<\/p>\n The CDC report<\/a>\u00a0showed that the 2015\u00a0suicide rate for men in construction<\/a>\u00a0was four times higher than the overall suicide rate at 53 people per 100,000.<\/p>\n Researchers found the highest suicide rates in manual labourers who work in isolation and face unsteady employment. High rates were also seen in carpenters, miners, electricians and men who work in construction.<\/p>\n The report looked at about 22,000 of the more than 40,000 suicide deaths reported in the entire U.S. in 2015.<\/p>\n While suicide is a major public health issue in Canada, there is little research on the risk of suicide in different occupations.<\/p>\n Statistics Canada reports that suicide is one of the top ten causes of death in Canada. On average,\u00a011\u00a0people die by suicide each day. In 2017, there were 4,175 deaths by suicide in Canada.<\/p>\n Unlike peer countries such as the United States, Australia and Britain, Canada doesn’t produce detailed, national, publicly available information on the suicide risks facing workers.<\/p>\n Until this year, Canada remained the only industrialized country in the G-7 that did not have a national suicide prevention strategy. On May 8th 2019,\u00a0the House of Commons unanimously adopted a private member motion to establish a National Suicide Prevention Strategy.<\/p>\n The legislation calls for conducting comprehensive analyses of high-risk groups of people, and the risk factors specific to each such group within 18 months.<\/p>\n In the meantime, what we do know is: men in the 45-59 age category are at greatest risk. One-third\u00a0of suicide deaths in Canada are among people 45-59 years of age.<\/p>\n Men have a\u00a0three times\u00a0higher rate of suicide compared to women, according to Statistics Canada. Men experience higher rates of death from suicide, whereas women experience higher rates of non-fatal suicidal behaviour.<\/p>\n Gender differences in suicidal behaviour have been theorized to be related to a number of factors, including lethality, differential rates of depression and alcohol misuse, and socialization.<\/p>\n Men tend to use more lethal means than women and also have less interaction with the health care system. Help-seeking behaviour and social support, two protective factors associated with suicide, may be more prevalent among women.<\/p>\n The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stresses that suicide prevention on the construction site is critical because it’s where many workers spend most of their time.<\/p>\n The CDC report had immediate impact in the U.S. In 2016, the Construction Financial Management Association established the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention<\/a> with the goal of providing and disseminating information and resources for suicide prevention and mental health promotion in construction.<\/p>\n Although statistics on suicide rates in the construction industry in Canada are lacking, suicide prevention resources are readily available.<\/p>\n Ranging from 24\/7 telephone crisis services and online worker stress assessment tests to first aid training, workplace toolkits and training, and\u00a0 a National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety, there are many ways the construction sector can mitigate the risks of suicide among the workforce.<\/p>\n Mental Health First Aid Certification<\/strong><\/p>\n Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) was developed in Australia in 2001and has since spread to 23 countries.<\/p>\n Brought to Canada in 2006 by the Alberta Mental Health Board, and adopted for national delivery by the Mental Health Commission of Canada in 2010, more than 400,000 people have received MHFA training.<\/p>\n Mental Health First Aid prescribes a three step approach:<\/p>\n The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) works in partnership with industry organizations to deliver the training to workers and managers.<\/p>\n In Ontario, Workplace Safety and Prevention Services is working with MHCC to deliver the Mental Health First Aid program, with a dozen training sessions<\/a> lined up around the province this fall.<\/p>\n Mental Health First Aid is also being offered by Prevention Link \u2013 Disability Prevention at Work<\/a>, a program of the Ontario Federation of Labour on behalf of the MHCC this fall in Sudbury, Toronto, St. Catharines, and Oshawa.<\/p>\n Recognize Workplace Warning Signs<\/strong><\/p>\n People who are suicidal typically exhibit warning signs. Anyone can learn to identify someone at risk of suicide and get them help.<\/p>\n In the workplace, these signs may be identified as a person:<\/p>\n Some warning signs require more immediate action than others. Suicidology experts advise immediate professional intervention if someone is exhibiting the following warning signs:<\/p>\n Respond with Confident Intervention<\/strong><\/p>\n The most difficult part of intervention is to know what to say. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center<\/a> offers specific advice on how to talk to a worker or co-worker who may be suicidal.<\/p>\n Immediate Distress \u2013 Phone, Chat or Text<\/strong><\/p>\n The CanadaHYPERLINK “http:\/\/www.crisisservicescanada.ca\/en\/about-us\/about-suicide-in-canada\/” Suicide Prevention Service<\/a> (CSPS) encourages anyone having thoughts of suicide to reach out by whatever means they are most comfortable with – either phone, text, or online chat, whether for yourself or for someone else.<\/p>\n The Canada Suicide Prevention Service is available 24\/7 at 1-833-456-4566<\/strong>, via toll-free phone. The text option is available from 4:00 p.m. \u2013 midnight (ET), seven days a week: text message to 45645<\/strong>.<\/p>\n An online chat<\/a> option is also available through Distress and Crisis Ontario.<\/p>\n The CSPS is a service of Crisis Services Canada (CSC), a national network of distress, crisis and suicide prevention line services in operation since 2002. A list of local crisis centres is available on the CSPHYPERLINK “http:\/\/www.crisisservicescanada.ca\/en\/need-help\/looking-for-local-resources-support\/”S website<\/a> .<\/p>\n Awareness and Support Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n The Mental Health Commission of Canada holds regular webinars<\/a> in many different areas of mental health, including suicide prevention and workplace mental health.<\/p>\n Ontario\u2019s designated health and safety training centre, the Workers Health & Safety Centre, offers a \u201cStress in the Workplace\u201d training program. The half-day course is designed to equip participants with information that will enable them to identify causes of workplace stress, recognize its health effects, and assess and implement effective controls.<\/p>\n\n
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