Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Wellness Repository
for the Asphalt Industry
If you’re in crisis, please call the national suicide and crisis lifeline at 988 or text “hello” to 741741. Skilled, trained counselors are available 24/7 to help you or a colleague.
Proclaim Your Support
Vince Hafeli, MBA, president of Ajax Paving of Florida, has taken the lead to initiate a national campaign promoting awareness of suicide and mental health wellness in the construction industry community. Hafeli presented his Suicide in Construction Awareness Proclamation at the Florida Transportation Builders Association Construction Conference Feb. 7, 2023, and collected signatures.
He will take the physical, living document to events where he is speaking across the United States until December 2024, collecting signatures from those who agree we need to encourage open conversations relating to suicide and mental health awareness in our industry. You can read the Suicide in Construction Awareness Proclamation by clicking on the image here and sign your name to show your support for your fellow workers.
AsphaltPro Magazine, as the host of the digital living document, will store your first and last name and your docusignature for the purpose of a final presentation after December 2024. Your signature will not be used for any other purpose. You are not subscribing to any service, and no one will contact you in relation to this petition.
You can also fill out a simple online form to sign your name to the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP) pledge: STAND.
For Safety Directors/HR Managers
Here are some places to find Employee Assistance Program (EAP) materials and continuing education/training. This list will grow as in-progress courses come online; click on the logo below to access the site. You may want to bookmark this page and don't forget to reach out to your insurance provider to see what materials they can provide.
The Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP) has prepared a host of materials for implementing a suicide-prevention program in the workplace, including a six-part video series.
The Needs Analysis & Integration Checklist from CIASP helps you evaluate where your safety culture is on its journey to an effective mental health wellness program and helps you define what next steps you need to take to achieve goals you set for a healthy, productive, safe work environment. This document will help you determine how prepared you, and your employees, are to handle a mental health or suicide crisis. Download this pdf by clicking on the image.
The Construction Industry Blueprint: Suicide Prevention in the Workplace can help HR managers and safety directors learn how to build protective factors, identify employees who are struggling, link troubled employees to appropriate care, and address mental health crises with compassion and empowerment.
Question, Persuade, Refer suicide prevention training for individuals is offered by the QPR Institute either online or in-person.
LivingWorks offers suicide prevention training for individuals or groups with or without continuing education credits and with certification of course completion. Training can be completed online.
Do you have another great resource you’d like to list here?
Send the information to Sandy.
Events
September is Suicide Prevention Month, but the asphalt industry is actively building awareness, raising funds, and working together to end the stigma around mental health wellness and suicide prevention discussions all year long.
Do you have an event to add to our list?
Send the information to Sandy.
IAPA
Springfield, IllinoisVince Hafeli’s presentation to IAPA
2023 Construction Working Minds Summit
Kansas City, MOVince Hafeli leads a CEO panel at the 2023 Construction Working Minds Summit, hosted by CIASP Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Construction Hike for Hope
FloridaConstruction Hike for Hope Location: multiple Florida cities and virtual
Virgina Asphalt Pavement Association 72nd Annual Meeting
Hilton Virginia Beach OceanfrontVince Hafeli’s presentation to the Virgina Asphalt Pavement Association 72nd Annual Meeting
South Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association
TBAVince Hafeli’s presentation to the South Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association
Suicide Prevention Month
EverywhereLibrary
AsphaltPro Magazine and other entities have sounded the alarm concerning the epidemic of suicide in the construction industry. We have offered tips and information to assist companies in developing/nurturing a caring culture and saving lives. As more articles are shared throughout the industry, we’ll include them in this library. Here’s a growing list.
March 2017, AP
Construction Safety’s Next Frontier: Suicide Prevention
By Cal Beyer
March 2017, AP
Build Protective Factors Against Mental Health Crises, Suicide Risk
By Sally Spencer-Thomas
June 2020, CSDZ
The Invisible Construction Crisis: Strategies to Address Mental Wellbeing
By Cal Beyer
June 2020, CSDZ
The Invisible Construction Crisis: Why Focus on Construction Workforce Risk?
By Cal Beyer
September 2020, AP
Candid Safety Promotes Mental Health and Prevents Suicide
By Asphalt Pavement Association of Oregon
July 2021, ENR
Safety Advocates See Strength in Numbers to Combat Suicide and Substance Misuse
By Engineering News-Record
June 2022, AP
Asphalt Industry Prepares to Stem the Tide of Construction Industry Suicide
By Vince Hafeli and Sandy Lender
February 2023, AP
CPWR Workshop in DC Offers Four Topic Area Work Groups for Suicide Prevention
By Sandy Lender
March/April 2023, AsphaltPro
Extrapolate Industry Numbers to Implement Suicide Prevention Programs
By Asphalt Pro Staff
Additional Resources
Michael Bellaman of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) told CONEXPO/CON-AGG 365 that: “Many are unaware that in construction, you are five times more likely to lose a worker to death by suicide than from a safety-related jobsite incident.” The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) shows construction has the highest suicide rate across all industries at 53.2 per 100,000 workers. The good news is our industry is building awareness, reducing the stigma around discussions of mental health, and preventing suicides. Groups already have suicide prevention and mental health wellness working groups compiling resources, documents, courses and more to assist safety directors and company management in nurturing a caring culture.
- One association that is specifically focused on lowering the construction workforce’s rate of suicide is the Construction Financial Management Association’s “Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention.” https://www.cfma.org/suicideprevention
- A resource with a weekly newsletter of insights and updates, is the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. The website gives visitors the option to drill down to “workplaces” for specific assistance. https://www.sprc.org/.
- Another “overarching” resource that takes a less reverent, but still straight-talk, look at mental health wellness for men specifically, is https://www.mantherapy.org/.
- The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention is another “overarching” resource, with a great deal of focus on mental health effects of COVID-19, but is still a relevant source for HR and safety directors. https://theactionalliance.org/
- The team at Holmes Murphy (https://www.holmesmurphy.com/category/construction/) and CSDZ have resources beyond insurance for HR managers, safety directors and more.
- For information and assistance with programs concerning substance abuse, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has a host of resources and information. Visit https://www.samhsa.gov/
Do you have another great resource you’d like to list here?
Send the information to Sandy.
