STAND UP for Suicide Prevention

This week, Sept. 7-11, is suicide prevention and mental health awareness week. Suicides in construction are at an all-time high and our mental health is certainly affected by the overall state of our industry, and our lives during this extended pandemic.

Let’s remember that we are all at risk for anxiety, burnout, depression and more during these tough times. NAWIC has made a commitment to our members to be safe, and that includes our mental well-being, so let’s look at what it means to be safe and STAND up for suicide prevention.

Safe: Creating a safe culture where we feel safe to ask for help if we are having suicidal thoughts or if we are concerned that our co-workers are at risk of suicide.

Training: Making suicide prevention training available so that our members can recognize the warning signs and be equipped to help those at risk.

Awareness: Raising awareness through organizational activities as safety meetings, toolbox talks, company meetings, newsletters, and social media to share the message of suicide prevention.

Normalizing: Normalizing the topic of suicide prevention as a health and safety priority by talking about suicide, suicide prevention, and mental health.

Decrease: Decreasing the risk of suicide in construction by helping to ensure access to and awareness of EAPs, behavioral health benefits, screening tools, community crisis support, the Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and Crisis Text Line.

As an association, we are committed to this STAND model for Suicide Prevention and will use it to impact our organization and share it with others in the industry.

Put these numbers in your phone – for now or later (and look up your own organization’s EAP number):

Suicide Lifeline Number: 800 273-8255

Crisis Text Helpline: Text “hello” to 741741