Tackling Mental Health Challenges with Support from Contractors

If you’ve been thinking more critically about the ways your business can bolster support for the mental and behavioral health of your members, you’re not alone. Several recent developments have signaled major breakthroughs in the way organizations are aiming to combat mental illness and substance use disorders amongst construction workers.

One such notable initiative is the recent partnership between construction firm Bechtel and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), announced this March. Bechtel made a multimillion-dollar commitment to the AFSP, funding a 5-year effort to develop programs and resources to target and combat high rates of suicide within the construction industry.

No matter the business size or resources, contractors are committed to action. An increasing number of worksites are incorporating mental health into their toolbox talks (some doing so numerous times a week), as well as incorporating stretching and mindfulness into the workday.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has made strides as well, strengthening their efforts to support construction worker wellbeing through the release of a fact sheet in English and in Spanish that touches on mental health, stress, trauma, substance use, and suicide. OSHA plans to incorporate content from the fact sheet into the introduction of their 10- and 30-hour outreach trainings. 

There are countless ways in which contractors can proceed in tackling the mental health challenges amongst the construction workforce; the single most important step is that they effectively decide to. BAC MAP encourages all of you to speak to your union signatories and see what they are doing to strengthen mental health on the jobsites.

If you would like to further discuss action items or paths for supporting worker wellbeing, please contact BAC MAP at 1-833-MAP-TALK.