Episode 6: From Awareness to Action | Cal Byers Offers Practical Steps to Create a Supportive Workplace Culture

This podcast is sponsored by Dynapac.

Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast on our Suicide Prevention page, and take a moment to sign the Suicide in Construction Awareness Proclamation while you’re there.

Sandy: Welcome to part three of the AsphaltPro Magazine podcast mini series for mental health wellness and suicide prevention. I’m magazine editor Sandy Lender and your host for this miniseries. In this three-part podcast, we’ll explore ideas for incorporating a mental health wellness component in your safety program. AsphaltPro is honored to expand the conversation around this important topic and to bring Holmes Murphy’s Cal Byer to the podcast for that purpose. Calb has over 30 years of safety risk management and insurance experience. He has expertise in risk management and a host of emotional intelligence programs such as mental health suicide prevention, employee well-being, safety culture development, and transformation wellness program design, implementation, and evaluation, employee assistance programs, and more. He is the vice president of workforce risk and worker well-being at Holmes Murphy and Associates.

Sandy: Let’s begin part three of this three-part podcast switching gears from the human resources and manager-centric topics to a more general topic. I’d like to broaden our discussion to how we all help each other in the mental health wellness sphere. I believe that we don’t all have to be experts or psychiatrists to help each other or to help a coworker who’s struggling. So let’s talk a little bit about the buddy system. You know, we have the buddy system out there in the work zone where we help each other avoid physical dangers. Could you talk to me a little bit about how far we might be away from having the buddy system for our mental health out there? How far away in the future are we from being able to assign a partner out there in the field to make sure we’re present each day?

Cal: Sandy, I believe that reality is closer every year. There are some organizations that have been starting peer-to-peer support. It’s still in its infancy in terms of being rolled out, but there’s a growing body of literature that shows peer support is the pathway to effectively addressing mental health in the workplace. I was a panelist earlier this year for an organization called MindWise Innovations. I serve on their advisory board. They’re an international nonprofit behavioral health company, and the panel I participated in was on peer support. They have a project right now that’s nearing conclusion for a comprehensive manual that teaches an eight-step process for peer-to-peer support. They’re in the process of looking to roll that out with some sample organizations. I think because of the nature of the grant, the first rollout does need to be in Massachusetts because of the way it was funded. But their goal is to begin launching on May 11th. 

Cal: I’m going to be hosting a national select invitation-only stakeholder meeting. It’s looking at an app that exists in the UK and in Canada. They’ve reached out to say, would the construction industry in the U.S. have an interest in learning about this peer support clinically supervised social media platform? It’s called Together All. What’s attractive is it’s peers supporting peers. It’s clinically supervised. So anytime someone is showing signs of inappropriate behavior or needing support, a clinical leader steps in and has side conversations with that person. But what’s been powerful is that they reach hard-to-reach populations. So in the military populations they’re serving in both the UK and Canada [there have been] higher than expected participation among males, in the tribal communities, stronger participation of persons of color. Those are the things that give us hope that if we could teach employees and leaders in companies about 988, the three-digit Crisis Text Line, teach them how to access employee assistance programs, that peers are very effective at providing support. We do spend more time with our work family during the season than we do our home family. So it’s natural that we’re going to look for ways to be supportive and to be offering care. I’m excited about peer support. It’s the future. It’s coming quickly. We just need more helpers, people willing to learn some of these techniques.

Sandy: And along the lines of people learning these techniques, I want to ask you, what are some basic steps that you can offer to our audience or easy-to-implement ideas that you would offer to a safety director or a CEO or a contractor? Some easy ideas for them to implement in a safety program to add mental health wellness and suicide prevention to their safety culture.

Cal: Yeah, Sandy, I think it’s important to keep this organic and to just build upon every year doing more. So if you haven’t taken the first step, make that your first step; resolve that we’re going to address this this year. And if you’ve taken one step or multiple steps, take the next step. I just encourage people to make this about continuous education, continuous improvement. One of the handouts that I’ll be sharing with you is a small eight-page color brochure. It’s called “Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention Building Blocks.” Inside, it has 13 quick action steps for a company that hasn’t yet started. This is a journey, and the quicker you begin, the faster you’ll be able to start helping people. But practically speaking, it starts with top-down leadership support, and then it’s learning what our internal capabilities are. What do you offer in employee benefits? If you’re a union contractor, spend some time understanding what the union is offering. Partner with the union. Get educated together. Bring the union, come teach the field workers about the employee assistance program. I was doing that back in 2014, ’15, and ’16 when I worked for a paving contractor. I partnered with three labor unions, and they started helping us nationally. But there are so many of these little basic steps. Offer wallet cards, do toolbox talks. Take a stand for the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention. They have a standup pledge. Again, there are so many steps. That 13-step guide is something that is sure to offer you support. Go to the website for AsphaltPro. You can go to the AGC of America. You can go to the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Each group is populated with unique information. So just make this a priority and jump in.

Sandy: I’d like to give the audience some resources and examples for getting a safety program that includes mental health wellness off the ground. Could you share a couple of examples or ideas of safety programs you’ve helped get off the ground? I know you’ve done a few.

Cal: Yes, I have. I think the more personal you can make this, to let workers know that this is a core value, that part of what we believe is looking out for one another, building this caring culture. Partner with local nonprofits. There’s a lot of education. So the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has a program that they do, typically in less than 45 minutes. It’s called “Talk Saves Lives,” and they can offer that in English and in Spanish. In many jurisdictions, there are many different versions of that program. There are many different resources they offer. Another group is the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Both groups have support groups, they have educational programs, they have support groups where families can go and seek help. Having information about recovery meetings from Alcoholics Anonymous to Narcotics Anonymous. The more resources that you share, [the more] people will watch. A really powerful movement we’ve seen beyond just toolbox talks have been hard hat stickers, wallet cards, QR codes in restrooms in porta-johns, put up in break rooms, so people can do this in private to access the help that’s available. Share information about 988. That’s one of the first steps. Train supervisors on a model called QPR, the QPR Institute. That stands for question, persuade, refer. 

Cal: Bigger organizations that are willing to spend more time or have more resources are using mental health first aid to teach people; that 10-hour certification course makes people more comfortable to have conversations. It’s letting people know that you’re concerned about their well-being and that you’re taking actions. You don’t have to have the perfect program. You just have to have the foundation and build upon it over time. And that’s where you will have peer support leaders emerge. They’ll say things like, “I’m happy to help if you ever need someone to share a story.” You can go to a website called ManTherapy.org. It’s very effective. It uses humor to break down stigma. And on the web, there are so many resources. You can go to the Kevin Hines story. That’s a website. Kevin Hines, 20 years ago, survived a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge. He’s truly a hopeful champion and warrior for mental health and suicide prevention. And on his website, I can’t think of a time that I referred a family member or a worker to that website where they didn’t find something that changed their perspective. So we need to change the way we think about mental health. We need to treat it like physical health. And we need to see it as a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness when people seek and accept or offer help. This really is a safety, health, and wellness topic.

Sandy: Yeah, Vince Hafeli was on a podcast of ours, and he said that mental health is not mental illness. And that what you just said there, talking about mental health as something positive, it is a strength, is echoing what he was saying to us. I really like that message coming through again.

Cal: I got to partner with Vince a year ago on a webinar. I think his first webinar with Women of Asphalt. He’s been a longtime sponsor. This year, he said, “Hey, I’m willing to increase my sponsorship if you let me talk about mental health.” Next thing you know, they’re offering him a full-length webinar. And Vince called, he wanted to help right out of the bullpen. So, I got to partner with him. I was going to be in Florida. We got to spend some time together. We talk now every week, at least. As he’s been doing more presentations, we’re probably texting or emailing more than physically talking. But he’s been a great champion. I agree with Vince. Mental health doesn’t mean the absence of mental illness. Over 110 times, I’ve asked people and audiences, “What is the first thing you think of when you hear the words mental health?” In all but four times, the number one answer is the presence or possibility of mental illness. All but four times, it’s been between 85 and 95% of an audience. One time with 325 people in the room, 98% thought it meant the presence or possibility of mental illness. That’s a sign of how real stigma is. It’s how we’re socialized, conditioned to think about mental illness. The first thing they’re thinking of when you’re talking about mental health, meaning your mental well-being, they’re thinking of mental health conditions, mental health diagnoses, mental health crises, mental health challenges. They’re going to the stigma side instead of the well-being side. 

Cal: If you’re going to be influencing leaders and they show up expecting well-being, they’re thinking nutrition, hydration, exercise, sleep. If all of a sudden you talk about any of these alarming statistics in construction, you run the risk of blindsiding people. And then you haven’t done safe messaging, and then it looks like shock and awe. And so I always want to encourage people to be gentle with the data. The news is not the numbers. The news is what companies and leaders are doing to address these well-being challenges.

Sandy: I think that kind of leads into the final question I have for our podcast. And that’s where people go from here?

Cal: Yeah, I think each leader who’s listening to this podcast who resolves, “I’m going to do something about this,”…One, I congratulate you, and two, thank you. We need more helpers. So, Sandy, one thing I know about you and the AsphaltPro, you have a robust website. I’ve seen you already add new materials and resources. They can listen to other podcasts. Some of the guests that you’ve had are people that I was helping teach and collaborate with now for many years. But the websites that you’ve already referenced, the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention, www.preventconstructionsuicide.com, that’s very robust. AGC of America has resources, including some recent public service announcement videos. Those have been very effective. The more we have real people sharing real stories of lived experience, the more personal it becomes. People can relate. But there’s so many of these resources. I’m going to share a PDF with those 13 quick action building blocks. And there’s so many resources. I think this is an opportunity for leaders to take bold and decisive action. I think that 2023 is the year we’re going to tackle workplace mental health and well-being. And I hope what will happen is we will see an impact on suicide and overdose deaths. 

Sandy: It’s been a pleasure talking with Cal today. I hope everyone listening in has picked up something they can use in their companies to expand the conversation around mental health wellness and reducing opioid use in their workforce. I want to encourage you to follow Cal on LinkedIn. You can find the Holmes Murphy and Associates Insurance Brokerage online at www.holmesmurphy.com. If you or a colleague needs immediate help, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has licensed counselors standing by at all times to speak with you. Please call or text 988. Thank you for tuning in, and thank you for your willingness to share this podcast and conversation with others.