Construction Suicide Prevention Week

September 9th – 13th, 2024

You may know that September is National Suicide Prevention Month, but have you heard of Construction Suicide Prevention Week? This national initiative spreads the message nationally about the importance of suicide prevention in construction and promotes free resources to people in and around the construction industry to help them start conversations and share information with colleagues who may be struggling.

According to the US Census Bureau, in Dane County, the construction industry represents over 4% of employed individuals with over 15,000 people working in construction within our community. If you’ve seen a crane in the skyline, a building being built, or a road being worked on, you know that construction is happening all around us. You likely know someone in your family or a friend who works in construction, so educating the public is important to raise awareness in the community.

The Suicide Prevention and Harm Reduction Coalition (SPHRC) of Dane County and Safe Communities is proud to join in and participate in Construction Suicide Prevention Week. Leah Rolando, a program manager at Safe Communities, reminds us that suicide remains an urgent and growing public health crisis across the country: More than 49,000 people in the United States died by suicide in 2022. To elevate awareness among construction workers in Dane County and those who love them, we will be hosting free suicide prevention in the workplace education for local construction companies and a social media campaign that week to spread the message in our community.

Kara McCaffrey, a member of both the local SPHRC and the national Construction Suicide Prevention Week committee, is a suicide loss survivor herself having lost her brother to suicide in 2005. She is currently Chief Wellness Officer at her family specialty construction company in Pennsylvania and resides locally in the Madison area. She spent over a decade working in healthcare IT at Epic, where she led the workgroup focused on suicide prevention from a clinical perspective. She is now striving to make a difference in the world of construction and partnering with Safe Communities and local Dane County construction companies to spread awareness, education, and resources.

“The construction industry is consistently one of the top industries for suicide death, due to several risk factors including physical stress, financial instability, and more. Safety is always top of mind in construction, but more people in construction die by suicide each year than by all fatal work-related deaths combined. These stats make it critical to shift our thinking and include mental health, in addition to physical health, when we think about traditional safety in construction.” says McCaffrey.

Construction Suicide Prevention Week started as a regional initiative in 2020 and now has grown to a nationwide effort to bring awareness to suicide in the construction industry. In 2023, more than 500 organizations reaching nearly 300,000 workers participated. With approximately 7.5 million people employed in construction in the U.S. and far more worldwide, there are still more people who need access to the tools that could save a life and reverse the trend that has placed construction as an industry with one of the highest rates of death by suicide.

Thanks to Dane County and Safe Communities Sustaining Members for making this work possible.

Call to action (media):

• Publicize Construction Suicide Prevention Week the week of September 9th – 13th to help spread awareness and make a difference in the construction industry.

Call to action (public):

• Check-in with your family and friends who work in construction to tell them you care.

• Consider sharing Safe Communities social media posts during Construction Suicide Prevention Week to spread the message and resources to those in our community.

Call to action (construction companies):

• Participate in the week by taking part in the national stand-down on 9/9, performing a toolbox talk, communicating resources to your staff via e-mail or text, or some other way you find meaningful. See available resources here: https://constructionsuicideprevention.com/resources/. Register your participation and receive an electronic badge for free here: https://constructionsuicideprevention.com/how-to-participate/

• Reach out to the SPHRC to learn about free resources and local training.

Potential Interviewees:

• Kara McCaffrey, Chief Wellness Officer, Houck Group: 717-580-5501, kmccaffrey@houcks.com

• Leah Rolando, Program Manager Suicide Prevention and Harm Reduction, Safe Communities: 608-441-3060 EXT 3, lrolando@safercommunity.net

Media Contact:

• Lilly Roe: 608-577-9272, lroe@safercommunity.net