to deal with the stress of no longer being able to perform as they
once did on the job.
Second, he notes that construction attracts military veterans as
a career opportunity, who tend to look for work that calls for skills
similar to those they used in the service.
“I’m not saying everybody is affected by this, but PTSD posttraumatic
stress disorder can accompany many members of the
military community when they come out and turn into the construction
workspace. And the reality is as a result of that personal
experience, there is a medication possibility or opportunity, they
could be self-medicating, legally or illegally.”
And lastly, Sizemore says societal norms have been undergoing
a metamorphosis in recent years, where some substances are
much more accepted than they have been in the past. He points out
that certain legal and illegal substances are more readily available.
“You’re dealing with things like chronic pain associated with a
long career in the industry and the tough guy mentality (‘Suck it
up and do your job!’) … When you begin to think about it, in our
industry there are long hours, long shifts, separation from family,
travel … It doesn’t take much of a spark in someone’s life to cause
them to lean on a substance legally or illegally to try to make it or
deal with it as a coping mechanism.”
Recognizing a problem
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
statistics published in 2018, the U.S. suicide rate among workers
aged 16 to 64 years increased 34 percent between 2000 and 2016.
Additionally, the CDC report indicated that data from 2012 and
2015 pointed to Construction and Extraction as the occupational
group with the highest male suicide rate.
And while suicide is definitely the worst-case scenario, plenty
more construction workers are struggling with varying degrees of
mental health issues and substance abuse.
Those CDC numbers were so shocking that the Construction
Financial Management Association took action in 2016, forming
the non-profit CIASP to tackle the stigma surrounding mental
health issues within the construction industry.
Sizemore says CIASP’s website, www.preventconstructionsuicide.
com, offers a number of relevant resources for those who are
concerned about mental health on the job site. He says management
as well as frontline employees must be educated about the
signs and symptoms that may point to substance abuse, depression
MB Western Industrial Contracting Co.
MB Western Industrial Contracting Co.
MB Western Industrial Contracting Co.
MB Western Industrial Contracting Co.
Civil, Piling & Marine Construction
Civil, Piling & Marine Construction
Civil, Piling & Marine Construction
Civil, Piling & Marine Construction
Safety, Quality, Experience & Value
Safety, Quality, Experience & Value
Safety, Quality, Experience & Value
Safety, Quality, Experience & Value
“Safety Drives Our Success”
“Safety Drives Our Success”
“Safety Drives Our Success”
Phone: 281-487-5757
www.mbwestern.com
“Safety Drives Our Success”
Phone: 281-487-5757
www.mbwestern.com
Phone: 281-487-5757
www.mbwestern.com
Phone: 281-487-5757
www.mbwestern.com
and/or suicidal thoughts.
“I think we need to educate our supervisors, frontline leaders
and peer-to-peer employees of what they need to look for that’s different,”
he said. “Those are things like people acting anxious or agitated
or maybe even reckless, to a certain extent. Maybe there are
extreme mood swings or withdrawing from their peers as opposed
to working in collaboration.”
Sometimes, adds Sizemore, a worker struggling with a mental
health issue will show decreased productivity, increased absenteeism
or tardiness, and may even demonstrate aggressive behavior
towards co-workers.
“What I’m saying is that we must equip our supervisors to not
only look at the physical component of the task or the work to be
done, the physical requirement and PPE of the employees who
will be doing it, but we now need to educate them on signs above
and beyond just ‘Do you need a ladder; do you have the proper
tools, etc.’”
Rather, the focus must also be on a person’s mental capability
for the job and whether or not they seem able to perform
tasks safely.
“It’s a huge education opportunity,” said Sizemore. “It’s not
something, in my experience, that everybody is used to doing.
Looking at someone’s mental capacity is not the norm, and it must
become the norm.”
The CIASP website offers a free guide that outlines 10 steps
companies can take to save lives.
One of the most important factors for success is buy-in from
the C-suite. When owners, managers and supervisors speak openly
about mental health and offer access to resources, a caring culture
and training to conduct difficult conversations, it can save a life.
And, it’s important to realize that life might be the worker struggling
with depression – but it could just as easily be one of their
co-workers, because mental health conditions have a ripple effect
in the industry.
When it comes to substance use and abuse, Sizemore said it’s a
problem the instant it enters the workplace.
“Substances have no place in the construction industry.
Anything that alters a human being’s behavior has no place in
this industry. And I say this, because you should personalize this:
If your son or daughter is depending on somebody being at 100
percent functional capacity – mental and physical – and they
are, let’s just say, a rigger rigging up a load of steel or an operator
who for whatever reason came in a little hung over, or had snuck
something on the break to deal with the fact that he and his wife
MENTAL HEALTH
90 | ISSUE 2 2020 www.piledrivers.org
/mm6745a1.htm?s_cid=mm6745a1_e
/www.preventconstructionsuicide.com
/www.preventconstructionsuicide.com
/constsuicprev10actionsteps.pdf
/www.mbwestern.com
/www.mbwestern.com
/www.mbwestern.com
/www.mbwestern.com
/www.piledrivers.org
