The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions, with an estimated 6,000 construction workers dying by suicide in 2022.
I don’t think there’s anything inherent in construction that is causing a higher suicide rate.
Construction labourer is a job just about anyone can get and male dominated.
I’ve hired some people who seemed like they weren’t in a great place. It’s low skill and it doesn’t hurt to take a chance on someone and hope the stability will help get them on the right track.
I haven’t had any coworkers take their own lives, but I could see someone at the end of the rope being more likely to find a job on a construction site instead of a dentists office
A huge part of the issue(From what I have seen on my years working insurance) are injuries. A day laborer lives by the day, has little to no savings and has an accident or gets hurt. They know two weeks off + hospital fees will bankrupt them, so they go to work with their bodies already in a bad state, which only furthers their existing injuries, until they either fall into despair, finally seek attention and their lack of support networks makes the situation so dire, the only option they can see is a noose.
Heartbreaking really. That is one of the reasons why I left that job market, I simply could not bear telling more people, the corporate version of “You’ve ran out of money, good luck with your cancer though”.
I don’t think there’s anything inherent in construction that is causing a higher suicide rate. Construction labourer is a job just about anyone can get and male dominated.
I’ve hired some people who seemed like they weren’t in a great place. It’s low skill and it doesn’t hurt to take a chance on someone and hope the stability will help get them on the right track.
I haven’t had any coworkers take their own lives, but I could see someone at the end of the rope being more likely to find a job on a construction site instead of a dentists office
A huge part of the issue(From what I have seen on my years working insurance) are injuries. A day laborer lives by the day, has little to no savings and has an accident or gets hurt. They know two weeks off + hospital fees will bankrupt them, so they go to work with their bodies already in a bad state, which only furthers their existing injuries, until they either fall into despair, finally seek attention and their lack of support networks makes the situation so dire, the only option they can see is a noose.
Heartbreaking really. That is one of the reasons why I left that job market, I simply could not bear telling more people, the corporate version of “You’ve ran out of money, good luck with your cancer though”.