Mental Health and
Suicide-Prevention Resources
NEW Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number
now available nationwide
You can still call 1-800-273-8255 or text HELP to 741-741, but now, across the country, the new 988 crisis line is available just like dialing 9-1-1. It remains FREE, CONFIDENTIAL and available 24/7.
AGCW is partnering with AGC of America and chapters/partners across the country on the Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Task Force (MHSPTF) aimed at creating a publicly accessible clearing house of all resources for mental health and suicide prevention in construction.
To learn more or to attend one of our national forums on the subject, contact Mandi Kime.
September is National Suicide-Prevention Month
Find a wide range of suicide-prevention resources below.
AGC of Washington is proud to offer a NEW resource for employers to help address mental health in their workplace. This sample APP policy will help you incorporate mental health and suicide prevention into your existing written safety and health programming, and offers you and your teams a wealth of open-source tools and resources. Find it here.
In Washington State in 2018, we lost six workers to on-the-job injury. In that same time period, however, we lost 125 of our industry’s people to suicide. We are not properly addressing worker safety if we are not addressing this critical issue.
In Washington State in 2020, we lost 16 construction workers on the job. Of those 16 fatalities, six were related to mental health. Three were on-the-job overdoses and three were on-the-job suicides.
Suicide is a critical issue in our communities. Suicide rates are climbing — and in the A/E/C (architecture/engineering/construction) industry, we lose people — fathers, mothers, sons and daughters — to suicide at six times the national average. Many things feed this epidemic and, while no one program or tool will eliminate suicide, putting resources and support in the right places, upstream, can help make a difference.
We encourage all firms to have their employees put the Suicide Prevention Hotline (800-273-TALK) and the Crisis Text Line (text “hello” to 741741) in their phones. These lines of support are not solely intended to help people struggling with thoughts of self-harm, but also for those who care about them, and for people who are struggling and want help before considering self-harm.
Mental-Health Best-Practices Guide
Written as a Master’s Degree thesis by AGCW safety director Mandi Kime (CHST, B.S. & B.A., Central Washington University), this Mental-Health Best-Practice Guide is backed by member input to a construction-focused survey. Detailing eight practices that construction employers should consider, this is the first time, to our knowledge, that new data has been developed for mental health in construction that is completely accessible publicly.
Suicide-Prevention Resources
Mental-health, suicide-prevention, addiction recovery, crisis intervention, domestic abuse, veterans’ and other resources – click HERE.
A lighthearted look at mental health, offering individuals a way to look into their mental health without stigma or the need to be vulnerable in front of others – click HERE.
A suite of jobsite suicide-awareness posters that can be printed for your workplaces – click HERE.
Article on suicide prevention and the need for mental-health support
in the construction industry – click HERE.
A look at suicide prevention in the workplace – click HERE.
There are countless other resources available on the CFMA website related to prevention of suicide in our industry – click HERE.