The national GC Suffolk is urging the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to incorporate suicide awareness and prevention training as a “core requirement” in its OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 curricula.
In a letter dated May 2 and sent to Douglas L. Parker, Assistant Secretary of Labor overseeing OSHA, John Fish, Suffolk’s Chairman and CEO, notes that more construction workers die annually from suicide than from all other workplace-related fatalities combined. The myriad causes that lead to suicides among construction workers include high psychological stress levels, chronic pain from the physical demands of work, emotional exhaustion, and substance and alcohol abuse.
On top of that, more than 15 percent of military veterans enter the construction industry after completing their service, and vets have a 50 percent higher rate of suicide than the general population’s.
“The time is now to rally our entire industry to address this dire issue,” states the letter. During Safety Week earlier this month, Suffolk hosted Mental Health Fireside Chats with noted clinicians to educate its employees on the problem and possible solutions. The firm also hosted webinars that inform employees about Suffolk’s mental health resources.
OSHA can guide the mental health discussion
The letter to Parker was co-signed by Brig. General (retired) Jack Hammond, Executive Director of Home Base, a national nonprofit that’s the largest private-sector clinic in the U.S., having treated more than 30,000 vets and trained more than 85,000 clinicians.
Fish and Hammond believe that OSHA has a critical role to play in driving the discussion around prioritizing “a widespread culture of support and transparency regarding mental health,” through better training, awareness, and resources.
Here is a copy of the letter:
Related Stories
| Jan 17, 2014
Australian project transforms shipping containers into serene workplace
Australian firm Royal Wolf has put its money where its mouth is by creating an office facility out of shipping containers at its depot and fabrication center in Sunshine, Victoria.
| Jan 17, 2014
The Starchitect of Oz: New Gehry building in Sydney celebrates topping out
The Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology, Sydney, will mark Frank Gehry's debut project in the Australian metro.
| Jan 16, 2014
Construction spending for 2013 finishing 5% higher than 2012: Gilbane Construction Economics report
??Construction growth is looking up, according to the December 2013 release of the periodic report Construction Economics, authored by Gilbane Building Company. Construction spending for 2013 will finish the year up 5%.
| Jan 16, 2014
ASHRAE revised climatic data for building design standards
ASHRAE Standard 169, Climatic Data for Building Design Standards, now includes climatic data for 5,564 locations throughout the world.
| Jan 15, 2014
6 social media skills every leader needs
The social media revolution—which is less than a decade old—has created a dilemma for senior executives. While its potential seems immense, the inherent risks create uncertainty and unease.
| Jan 15, 2014
Report: 32 U.S. buildings have been verified as net-zero energy performers
The New Buildings Institute's 2014 Getting to Zero Status report includes an interactive map detailing the net-zero energy buildings that have been verified by NBI.
| Jan 13, 2014
AEC professionals weigh in on school security
An exclusive survey reveals that Building Teams are doing their part to make the nation’s schools safer in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy.
| Jan 13, 2014
6 legislative actions to ignite the construction economy
The American Institute of Architects announced its “punch list” for Congress that, if completed, will ignite the construction economy by spurring much needed improvements in energy efficiency, infrastructure, and resiliency, and create jobs for small business.
| Jan 12, 2014
The ‘fuzz factor’ in engineering: when continuous improvement is neither
The biggest threat to human life in a building isn’t the potential of natural disasters, but the threat of human error. I believe it’s a reality that increases in probability every time a code or standard change is proposed.
| Jan 12, 2014
5 ways virtual modeling can improve facilities management
Improved space management, streamlined maintenance, and economical retrofits are among the ways building owners and facility managers can benefit from building information modeling.
