NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION WEEK

National Suicide Prevention Week September 5-12, 2021

A call to action to make suicide prevention a health & safety priority at work

Workplaces and professional associations everywhere are developing strategies and programs in suicide prevention that move beyond just awareness and take steps toward change. This year, the global theme for World Suicide Prevention Day is “create hope through action.” To this end, work communities are becoming increasingly ready to become vocal, visible, and visionary and are ready to take the pledge to make suicide prevention a health and safety priority. To date, over 775 organizations and leaders have taken the pledge to make suicide prevention a health and safety priority. More information can be found at WorkplaceSuicidePrevention.com.

Chris Carlough, director of safety for SMART and tireless advocate for awareness and support around substance use disorder and mental health in the signatory sheet metal industry, says the most important thing for both labor and management to do is to start the conversation and have an open and empathetic dialogue about mental health.

“It’s so important for our members who are working for signatory contractors to understand that we want the best for them and that we are going to stand together with them with support through whatever challenges they face in life,” Carlough says. “When you take a look at the challenges facing those of us working in construction—between the high suicide rate and substance abuse issues—it’s clear we are on the right track with SMART MAP training and working together by building peer mentoring programs that provide effective resources for our members and their families.”

The 2020 CDC report ranking suicide rates by industry has made it clear—many industries need to make suicide prevention as important as they do other health and safety initiatives. Many agree they need to change the culture of work to increase psychological safety and reduce elements that contribute to job strain like sleep disruption, job insecurity, and low job control—things shown to be connected to suicide risk.

The National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention consist of Eight Guiding Principles and Nine Practices. Developed through a partnership involving dozens of stakeholders, these tools are designed to be cross-cutting through private and public sectors, large and small employers, and across all industries, and:

1. Give employers and professional associations an opportunity to pledge to engage in the effort of suicide prevention. Sign the pledge at workplacesuicideprevention. com/take-action/take-the-pledge 2. Demonstrate an implementation structure for workplace best practices in a comprehensive, public health approach. 3. Provide data and resources to advance the cause of workplace suicide prevention. 4. Bring together diverse stakeholders in a collaborative public-private model. 5. Make recommendations for easily deployed tools, trainings and resources for both short-term action and comprehensive and sustained strategy.

Of the organizations and leaders who registered as official pledge partners with the National Guidelines:

• 7.5% said that someone in their workplace had experienced a suicide death in the last 12 months. • 51% said that someone in their workplace had experienced a suicide death in the last 10 years. • 81.3% of participants said they are actively promoting crisis resources. • 61.1% said their workplace was completely committed to implementing suicide prevention programming and 54% said they were very confident about their organization’s ability to adopt the guidelines.

Of the nine practices, these pledge partners stated these were the three most important: bold leadership, mental health resources and communication.

Organizational leaders in the sheet metal industry can take important steps toward meaningful change in this area, Carlough says.

“First, talk openly about mental health, specifically about suicide and how it is affecting our industry,” he says. “Promote mental health awareness and the resources our people can rely on, and work to promote a culture of caring through storytelling around mental health. The more people who are able to share stories of struggle and hope today, the more we chip away at this stigma facing all of those who struggle with mental health issues tomorrow.”

To learn more about SMART Map training and other resources offered by SMOHIT and jointly funded by SMACNA and SMART, please visit smart-union.org/ smart-map. To take the suicide prevention priority pledge, please visit WorkplaceSuicidePrevention.com and follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @ workplacesuicideprevention ▪

© Can Stock Photo / albund

Protective Factors:

• Culture that promotes the importance of safety • Emphasis on teamwork • Culture of employee engagement and connectedness, providing a sense of

“brotherhood” • Culture of wellness that values mental health • Access to insurance and mental health care (e.g., Employee Assistance

Program) • Informational support systems (buddy systems) • Leadership and supervisor training

Courtesy of A Construction Industry Blueprint: Suicide prevention in the workplace. Learn more at theactionalliance.org