WORKPLACE, HEALTH & SAFETY
Suicide Is No Longer A Dirty Word! By Omesh Jethwani, Government Projects & Programs Manager
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ccording to Mates In Construction NSW (MATES NSW), construction workers are more than two times more likely to die by suicide than Australian men. Indeed, young construction workers are almost six times more likely to die from suicide than workplace accidents.
management and employees came together for the common good of everybody on a site, to prevent suicide in the workplace,” he says. MATES NSW offers three areas of training
MATES NSW is a charity set up to try and combat the terrible rate of suicide in the industry. According to CEO Brad Parker, 190 people in the construction industry take their own lives every year. The charity has reduced suicide by almost 8 per cent since its formation in 2009.
• General Awareness Training (GAT) — training is delivered to at least 80% of workers on-site and is delivered en masse and on-site. This training introduces workers to the nature of the problem, that it is okay to talk about mental health, and provides practical guidance on how they can assist. • Connector Training — provided to those people on site who volunteer to become a Connector — a person trained to help keep someone safe in a crisis while at the same time connecting them to professional help.
“We have a straightforward model, but it’s very effective. We have created a network of carers who will assist people in identifying the signs of suicide and connecting those people to help,” Mr Parker says. “The Program uses the world’s best practices tailored into language that construction workers understand. The genius of construction industry
across the industry:
Brad Parker, CEO Mates NSW
• Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) — equips individuals to become ASIST workers, comparable to the first aid officer on-site. ASIST workers will talk to a person contemplating suicide to make this person ‘safe’. Using simple skills, an ASIST worker will listen to the person’s concerns and respond to them appropriately to reach a ‘safe plan’. Issue Two | April-June 2022 | MBA NSW
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