5 Trends Shaping Workforce Mental Health and Substance Use Prevention
BY Cal Beyer
5 trends shape the workforce mental health and substance use prevention discussion
The AsphaltPro Magazine was one of the earliest publications in the construction industry to share information on mental health and suicide prevention. I met Editor Sandy Lender when I worked for a hot-mix asphalt (HMA) producer and specialty paving contractor in the Pacific Northwest. In 2017, AsphaltPro published a series of articles authored by me and Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas on mental health and suicide prevention.
Lender periodically invites me to share updates on industry trends on these topics. Her most recent request was a deep dive to share insights on a “top five current and future trends” positively affecting the mental health and wellbeing of employees in the aggregates and asphalt industries.
The five trends identified in this article reflect the growing expansion of workplace mental health initiatives being increasingly adopted throughout the construction industry. These trends show the increasing need to address the intersection of mental health and substance use to decrease the prevalence of both suicide and overdoses in the industry.
SAFE Project commends Vulcan Materials Company for its bold action in 2025 to stock naloxone at all company workplace locations.
Trend #1: Psychological Safety
In the 2019 book, The Fearless Organization, Amy C. Edmonson defined psychological safety as “the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.” Edmonson further described team psychological safety “as a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.”
Frequently, psychological safety is closely associated with high-risk environments where trust and open communication is essential—from the executive suite to the crew on the ground. This fits the aggregates and HMA industries.
Psychological safety is an essential condition for improving communication, teamwork and problem solving. It grows from intentional team learning of respect and trust, that empowers employees to speak up, share ideas, and take risks, without fear of judgment, criticism, or repercussions.
Psychological safety increases when first line supervisors cultivate open communication and feedback where team members feel comfortable taking risks to give feedback and share ideas without criticism and repercussions. As psychological safety increases so too does hazard reporting and correction, including near miss reporting and a willingness of crews and supervisors to exercise stop work authority.
Psychological safety helps organizations unlock higher performance at the crew, project and organizational level. Companies that intentionally created cultures with shared values for psychological safety evolve into learning systems that reduced friction and conflict, increased collaboration, spurred innovation and problem solving, and decreased incidents and injuries.
Where workers feel greater trust, they are more inclined to seek help for mental health or substance use issues. In short, when crews feel psychologically safe, they’re more willing to speak up—not only about job hazards, but also about personal struggles. Psychological safety is a precursor for promoting workplace well-being, the intersection between physical health and emotional wellness.
As psychological safety increases so too does hazard reporting and correction, including near miss reporting and a willingness of crews and supervisors to exercise stop work authority.
Trend #2: Recovery First-Aid Training
An important way to boost psychological safety is to educate the workforce about how common substance use challenges are—and the services and supports available for prevention and recovery. This serves to decrease stigma and promotes help-seeking leading to recovery. The Recovery Research Institute (RRI) defines recovery from a substance use disorder as “a process of improved physical, psychological, and social well-being and health after having suffered from a substance-related condition.”
Traditional approaches to substance use prevention in the workplace do not result in employees or family members receiving services. Historically, companies took a “hands-off” approach to substance use in asserting it is not the business of businesses to care what people do in their time away from work unless it becomes an issue at work. Unfortunately, this passive approach did not acknowledge how common substance use challenges were, and did not recognize how important it is for employers to support employees seeking support and services for substance use treatment and recovery.
Real Talk: Alcohol Awareness and Promoting Workplace Recovery
In industries under the jurisdiction of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations for safety sensitive positions, companies have historically relied on Drug Free Workplace policies and drug and alcohol testing protocols. Often these programs are punitive in nature, and result in disciplinary actions, including loss of employment. This reinforces stigma about mental health and substance use and keeps people from being comfortable seeking or asking for help.
It is important to teach all employees about substance use and misuse. It is important to focus on prevention and early intervention with family members to minimize crises relating to worsening substance use disorder. By offering training on Recovery First-Aid and Recovery Allyship, workplaces can provide a necessary safety net to help employees and family members needing vital support. (See the SAFE Project website for information on Everyday Etiquette for Recovery Allies).
Trend #3: Recovery-Friendly Workplaces
In 2018, the state of New Hampshire became the first to adopt a Recovery Friendly Workplace (RFW) program. As of 2025, over 25 states have adopted various versions of RFW programs or initiatives. There is even a national certification program sponsored by the National Recovery Friendly Workplace Institute.
A primary purpose of RFWs is to expand labor rate participation by increasing the recruitment and retention of persons in recovery. There remain significant levels of stigma around substance use and addiction. This creates bias and judgment resulting in potential discrimination for persons in recovery in the hiring process. This can include being passed over for promotions and other career advancement opportunities.
When employers commit to being an RFW, they create a safe space for employees and their families to seek care—without fear of judgment or career consequences. The organization is encouraging employees to seek help and support and ensuring access to necessary services.
There are many emerging pockets of success that point to the benefits of this innovative program. Successful RFW programs highlight decreased absenteeism, lower turnover, improved workplace trust and engagement, and higher productivity by hiring persons in recovery.
Despite the growth of the RFW movement, awareness remains a challenge. A survey in September 2024 by consulting firms ForsMarsh and the Human Resources Certification Institute highlighted “60% of human resources professionals had never heard of recovery-friendly workplaces before this survey.” One source of confusion can be that RFW is called Recovery-Ready Workplaces by the federal government and as Workplace Supported Recovery by the National Institute of Occupational Health in its Total Worker Health initiative. Fundamentally, all three names refer to the same approach.
RFWs are an opportunity for the construction industry to close the shortage of skilled and unskilled labor by providing fair chance employment opportunities. The RFW movement offers the industry a positive way to reduce stigma and provide meaningful improvement to help employees and their family receive support and services to address problematic substance use.
Trend #4: Increasing Adoption of Naloxone for Overdose Reversal
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the construction industry has the highest rate of overdose deaths among major occupations. Long hours, physical strain injuries and access to prescription opioids can create a dangerous mix for workers, many of whom are trying to manage chronic pain while showing up for the job.
Preventing the first exposure to opioids starts with strong injury prevention programs—especially for soft tissue injuries from material handling, falls, vehicle incidents and struck-by hazards. It is especially important for companies to focus on the prevention and management of soft tissue injuries frequently occurring in material handling tasks, slips/trips/falls, motor vehicle incidents, or being struck by or caught between moving objects.
Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, is a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdoses, and is just as essential for a first-aid kit as an automated external defibrillator (AED). SAFE Project encourages all employers to provide another layer of protection for workforces by breaking the stigma that surrounds overdose response and equipping job sites and field teams with naloxone.
Naloxone works by blocking the effects of opioids in the brain, restoring normal breathing in minutes. It does not affect someone who hasn’t taken opioids and is safe to administer in emergencies. Yet overdoses rarely happen the way Hollywood portrays them. Most occur in homes, bathrooms or parked vehicles. Some happen at work; in fact, 10% of job site fatalities are overdoses. They often involve fentanyl—a synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin—hidden in pills or powders without the user’s knowledge.
SAFE Project commends Vulcan Materials Company for its bold action in 2025 to stock naloxone at all company workplace locations. While stocking naloxone is still relatively new in the industry, early adopters are setting the tone for a culture that treats overdose prevention like any other workplace safety measure. Vice President of Safety, Health and Environmental Chad McDougal advised that Vulcan Materials deployed naloxone at over 550 locations. (See article featuring Vulcan Materials posted on the SAFE Project website).
Trend #5: VitalCog in Construction Training for Suicide Prevention
Increasingly, more contractors are training their workforces in suicide prevention as part of their safety and wellness programs. VitalCog is a brief, evidence-informed suicide prevention training tailored for the construction industry. VitalCog in Construction was co-developed by the University of Colorado’s Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center, United Suicide Survivors International and LendLease.
VitalCog in Construction is becoming a training of choice that equips first-line supervisors and crew members with the skills to recognize common warning signs, how to hold direct conversations and connect peers to support. VitalCog in Construction is available in both English and Spanish.
VitalCog can be completed in a period of one to two hours and captures valuable data in post-training surveys. Research reported in the Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health showed attendees experienced increased confidence identifying suicide warning signs and a significant rise in comfort talking about suicide and offering resources. An increasing number of trainers throughout the construction industry are offering VitalCog in Construction. Learn more here.
Cal Beyer, CWP, NAC is the senior director of SAFE Workplaces for national nonprofit SAFE Project (SAFE stands for Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic). He has 35 years’ experience as a safety, wellness and risk management professional and is an advocate for workplace mental health, suicide and overdose prevention, and recovery. He helped launch the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP) in 2016. He is a 2025 inductee of the National Academy of Construction. For more information, visit www.safeproject.us or contact him at cal@safeproject.us or (651) 307-7883.
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Additional Resources
Beyer, Cal. (2024). Naloxone is the New AED in Workplace First-Aid. Asphalt Pro. https://theasphaltpro.com/articles/naloxone-is-the-new-aed-in-workplace-first-aid/
Beyer, Cal. (2024). Promoting a Recovery-Ready Workplace by De-Emphasizing Alcohol at Company Gatherings. Construction Financial Management Association. https://cfma.org/articles/promoting-a-recovery-ready-workplace-by-de-emphasizing-alcohol-at-company-gatherings
Delaney, Carolyn, Beyer, Cal, and Jones, Richard. (2020). Building Support for Workers Through Recovery Friendly Workplaces. Building Profits. Construction Financial Management Association.
Cote, Catherine. (2025). How to Build Psychological Safety in the Workplace. Business Insights. Harvard Business School Online. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/psychological-safety-in-the-workplace
ForsMarsh. Recovery Friendly Workplaces: Preliminary Findings from a Human Resources Needs Assessment. https://www.forsmarsh.com/2024/09/18/fors-marsh-to-present-early-research-findings-for-hr-professionals-on-recovery-friendly-workplaces-at-white-house-recovery-month-roundtable/
Recovery 101 Fast Facts. Recovery Research Institute. https://www.recoveryanswers.org/recovery-101/fast-facts/
SAFE Project. Opioid Overdose Reversal Training Using Naloxone. https://safeproject-s-school-262f.thinkific.com/courses/naloxone-training
US Department of Labor. Recovery-Ready Workplace Toolkit. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/RRW-hub/Toolkit
VitalCog: Suicide Prevention in the Workplace. Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center; Colorado University Anschutz Medical Campus.