14-05-2025
Construction companies band together for mental health as industry faces high suicide rates
PORTLAND, Ore. () – Eight different local construction companies, normally competitors, are banding together to address the industry's high suicide rates.
The CDC that the construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates of any industry in the United States. Industry leaders said changing that starts with shifting how people view mental health.
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'We will win the challenge of mental health when we reduce the stigma, when we make reaching out for help okay,' Lines for Life CEO Dwight Holton said.
The leaders of Hoffman Construction, Andersen Construction, Fortis Construction, Skanska USA Building, Lease Cruther Lewis, Turner Construction, Mortenson and R&H Construction announced Wednesday they are partnering with Lines for Life and organizing a peer group in the Construction Suicide Prevention Partnership. Each company is committing to making mental health just as much of a priority as physical safety on site through a more focused approach. One of those strategies is through QPR training— or Question, Persuade, Refer.
'We're teaching supervisors, foremen and coworkers to have those conversations like, 'Hey, how can I help? What are you thinking about hurting yourself today,' Robert Dahl with Lease Crutcher Lewis said. 'And being open about that because you're not going to suggestion that you're going to open a door, that you can probably save their life.'
Dave Garske, the former VP of Hoffman Construction, said the industry has a 'leave your problems at the door' mentality. But he said when people are struggling, that mentality has prevented them from supporting each other.
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'That's what we're trying to stop is the first thing is we need to do is we need to openly talk about it and talk about how this is a problem, talk about how we need to make a change, but let people know that we have people that have gone through this that are there to help,' he said.
The group has also launched the Construction Care Line— a free crisis and support line tailored to construction workers.
'The people that are answering the line are not just 988 workers, but they've had a little more training and they actually have some scripts that have been studied and– and trained them on how to speak like a construction worker,' Kristina Ewing with Andresen Construction said. 'So it gives them a little more insight on what life on a construction site is like. The specific problems they may be facing on a job site, and also helps talk to them as if it were a colleague.'
That line is up and running and is available 24 hours a day at (833) 444 – 6020. The companies said this announcement is just a start, and they are hoping to grow the group and make these changes system-wide so they can shift the way business is done.
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