AGC brings the dark corners of a delicate topic into the light
BY A.D. THOMPSON
In some of Brandon Anderson’s presentations, which can be before a crowd of a thousand or more, he asks for a small amount of audience participation. “If you’re willing to share,” he will preface, “please raise your hand if you have been impacted by overdose or suicide.” And when what he guesses is 90 percent of the room raises their hands, he says, they find meaning in the title of the presentation: You Are Not Alone.
Anderson, vice president of safety for AGC of Missouri and co-chair of the AGC’s Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Task Force, says that most people believe that their struggles are their own special brand of hell.
“We convince ourselves we’re alone,” said Anderson. “We convince ourselves that no one else knows what we’re going through. We come to work, and we talk about cancer, or car accident deaths that have impacted us, but we won’t discuss mental health or suicide or substance abuse because historically, it has been taboo.”
But, he said, the tide is finally turning. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but people like Anderson, his co-chair Mandi Kime, director of safety services for AGC of Washington, who also cofounded the Task Force, and Cal Beyer, senior director; SAFE Workplaces for SAFE Projects, who inspired them both to the calling, have been working exhaustively alongside other AGC members and partners to bring the dark corners of this delicate topic into the light.
It has been more than 10 years since Kime’s master’s degree thesis on mental health and suicide prevention for construction employers evolved into a best practices guide after its presentation at an AGC of America health conference.
“It was a groundswell,” Kime recalled. “People told me it was important. They said, ‘We really need to be doing this.’ ”
And so, they have. “AGC has attacked this holistically and said that mental health is something all construction companies can address by focusing not only on physical safety, but emotional wellbeing,” said Beyer.
“[Ten years ago] there weren’t a lot of tools in the toolbox,” he noted, “but over the last decade, we have built an army of helpers, mobilized people and created awareness. We’ve got advocacy. We drive action and we teach people how to get help. As an industry we’ve really hit this head-on.”
Case in point: myriad materials on the website that go well beyond the practices of the past where managers might simply refer a struggling employee to the Employee Assistance Program, if the company even had one back then.
“Today,” said Kime, noting that AGC is currently the largest clearinghouse for free, open-source materials for construction employers to address these issues, “you can go to the Safety & Health/Industry Priorities header on the AGC website and find a wealth of information. And we’re adding to it routinely.”
A new launch, for example, is a three-hour, self-paced training course to tackle the supervisory issues that might come with addressing things in this sensitive space.
“We’ve got a lot of people in the industry who want to do the right thing but might be fearful because of HR implications or moral implications of them engaging with their team on mental health. Or it could just be a comfort thing for them.”
Toolbox talks, training sessions, sample policy, best practices, “things all the way down to hard hat stickers you can order and print yourself,” said Kime, are available, but few things are as helpful to those who struggle than knowing there are people out there who understand.
There’s a “Three V” model, said Beyer. Being VISIBLE, VOCAL and VULNERABLE.
More recently, he pointed out, AGC has done a series of short videos, featuring real AGC members talking about their real-life issues. “These cover people dealing with things like overcoming depression, anxiety, opioid addiction, the loss of a child to suicide…. They are human depictions of people getting well, letting people know there’s hope.”
Anderson does the same when he tells people his own story.
“I’ve had my issues,” said Anderson. “Traveling for work, being away from my family … I’ve been divorced and remarried. I have three children, and I spent the first 12 years of their lives on the road, not being home as I should, as I would be, now….” He trails off for a moment.
This is real, this sharing. He has attempted suicide twice.
“I don’t share this proudly, or as a badge of honor,” he said. “I share it to let people know I can relate … so someone else can open up, so they can talk about it, and then I can provide them with the means to get help through the resources that are available to them.”
Sometimes, though, even bold vulnerability isn’t enough to crack through the veneer in an industry where “losing your man card” can be a very real fear. Even for women, said Anderson.
“The people attracted to construction already have that ‘tough guy’ or ‘tough woman’ mentality. I build stuff. I get stuff done. I don’t need help for anything and I’m not asking for it.”
It’s a trait that many outside the industry admire it for, said Sonya Bohmann, executive director for the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP).
“It’s that pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps, get-it-done-at-all-costs approach…. There is that feeling that they should be able to weather whatever storm they’re going through,” she said. “There’s also a fear of being labeled. Or looked at by their peers as not being someone safe to work with.”
And while personal relationships are often a catalyst, she noted, that construction is hard on the body is just as often a factor.
“There is often chronic [physical] pain.” It’s where an opioid or other form of addiction can take root.
In either case, both she and Anderson note, many people find it difficult to open up.
You can say, ‘Hey, if you’re struggling, let us know. We can help you,’” said Anderson, “but there can still be that fear of a perception that it makes them look weak.”
He believes it’s even tougher for women.
“I think they wear an even bigger, heavier mask, because the industry is still predominantly men. We have more people who look like us, who we can relate to,” he said.
“Let’s be honest: It wasn’t too many years ago that women weren’t even really wanted or accepted in the industry…. They’re having to prove themselves just to be here, that they’re worthy of doing the work, on top of proving they’re just as tough as anyone else. I’ve struggled with mental health issues, but I look like everyone else. It’s easier for me to blend in.”
According to stats from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide rates are higher among men, a demographic that supports the math when it comes to construction’s higher-than-average numbers, said Angela Crawford, executive director for Construction Suicide Prevention Week, an initiative currently working toward nonprofit status.
A grassroots movement that grew from a tragic incident on a Kansas City jobsite, the task force prompted conversation. Initially directed at counseling those in crisis following the shocking death of their colleague, it has since evolved from a mission-driven group of volunteers to a small army, focused on raising awareness about the unique challenges of a dynamic industry.
“The shift in how we look at mental health has come slower here,” said Crawford. “If you lost a finger, nobody would look at you and think you were weak, but for whatever reason … it’s been tougher to get people to understand the invisible injuries under the hard hat.”
Noticing when things are amiss and acting quickly can make a huge difference, said Bohmann. If a key player, someone generally reliable, begins to slip – showing up late, behaving uncharacteristically, isn’t the “Steady Eddie” that he or she used to be – take note.
“Were they once problem solvers and now turn small crises into bigger ones? Are they giving away their tools or other things that are important to them? Think about what else might be going on in their lives: an illness in the family, a divorce, had they been dealing with pain management…? These are some of the warning signs.”
It may still be difficult, she said, to get people to open up. “You may have to dig a little deeper … and they may come clean or persist in telling you ‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’” You might even want to be blunt, she said, and ask if they’re thinking of suicide.
“The reason more people think we don’t want to be that direct is that they think we’ll put that idea in someone’s head, but the contrary is really what the truth is…. It allows them to break through the thought pattern and also shows them there’s someone here who wants to help, to dig a little deeper and create space.”
It’s critical, said Trisha Calabrese, because there are five times as many suicides in the construction industry as lives lost in jobsite safety incidents.
Calabrese, senior vice president of program operations for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), works with chapters nationwide, as well as Puerto Rico, saving lives and aiding those who have experienced suicide-related loss.
“According to the CDC, 56 out of every 100,000 workers will lose their lives to suicide each year. In an industry that employs 10 million people … that’s more than 100 per week.”
In its commitment to help, AFSP launched a multiyear, $7 million initiative to reach half a million construction workers with tailored mental health programs and suicide prevention resources.
In March, they convened the CEO Advisory Council, bringing together executives from major firms and unions, including Fluor, Turner Construction, North America’s Building Trades Union, Kiewit, Clark and Skanska.
“The council focuses on developing and implementing industry-wide strategies to reduce suicide rates and improve mental health among construction workers.”
Addressing the challenges, she says, can save lives in an industry that’s “less likely to talk openly about struggle.”
Old habits die hard, but younger generations, and the growing diversity we see in construction, are making it easier, said Anderson.
“Gen X is the switchover,” he said, “just before the Millennials is where it started to transition, but there are six generations in the workforce today. Ask the youngest ones and the oldest veterans what ‘mental health’ means and you’re going to get very different answers.”
There are still largely stoic members of the construction tribe. “They work away from their support systems, as I did. They can succumb to the chronic alcohol and substance misuse that’s socially acceptable because of that tough-guy mentality. Drink your problems away. Suck it up. Don’t let ‘em see you cry. Check your feelings at the door.”
The people most likely to fall through the cracks — they haunted him and his colleagues, even as their achievements in aiding companies continued to rack up.
How do you reach the unreachable?
The answer was a tiny coin with a very big message that began with the AGC of Missouri.
“It’s like a challenge coin or a poker chip,” Anderson explained, “and it has a message of HOPE: Hold on, pain ends.”
It also has a number – 988 – which you can call or text to be connected with the Suicide & Crisis Hotline. Some companies, who have since adopted the practice, have QR codes or lines that connect people to their EAPs, unions, other places where they can find help, an ear.
And since its introduction, it has had many success stories.
In one, the safety director of one company was at a conference, a companywide annual event. “There was someone he noticed,” Anderson explained. “His gut told him something was wrong. So, he walked up to this person, didn’t say a word and just handed him the coin. That was the entire interaction.”
One year later, the gentleman who received the coin found the man who had given it to him at another event. “He pulled the coin out of his pocket and said, ‘Hey, do you remember me? I wanted to say thank you, because you saved my life. That night I had plans to ….’ ” He pulled something else, too. A photo of a nine-month-old baby girl.
“You saved her life, too,” the man said. “She wasn’t even conceived yet.”
There are countless more stories like this, said Anderson, where someone was given a coin, or even found it lying on a counter somewhere, and their life’s trajectory was altered. “They read the message. They got help.”
Beyer says that the industry has made large gains in getting past its legacy of not seeking help.
“There’s a higher likelihood of people being open to it. Younger generations are expecting employers to talk about mental health, so we’ve seen a shift … we see things inching forward in a positive manner.”
The chip introduced in Missouri, he reported, has been replicated by more than 50 other organizations.
“We have made tremendous impact. Across the industry it has morphed into a social movement. And these are the giants, the shoulders upon which other organizations are standing.”
The next phase, he said, is greater education in the place where substance use and suicide intersect.
“People with alcohol misuse disorder are eight times more likely to die by suicide. People who inject drugs: 14 times more likely. People who use multiple drugs: 17 times.”
With SAFE Project, Beyer teaches people how to talk about addiction treatment and recovery.
“AGC took advantage of its leadership and status as the largest trade association and said, ‘We can do something about this.’ And they’ve been strong and bold.”
It’s time now to find the small companies, the ones who don’t have safety and HR departments.
“It’s time to shine the light into the whole industry and light up all the dark crevices.”
Save the Date, Save Lives
Construction Suicide Prevention Week, led by The Builders, an AGC chapter, falls from September 8 to 12. And it’s another opportunity for AGC members to make a difference. Using the initiative’s resources, companies can plan activities for their teams, then report back on how they participated. It’s free. And, says CSPW Executive Director Angela Crawford, it’s important to the success of the program.
“Those who register and participate also get an OSHA-recognized certificate to display, as well as access to additional resources. It’s a tough topic, she said, but one the industry needs to focus on, and embolden those who need support feel comfortable in asking, rather than “toughing it out” as its members have done in the past.
“We need to get to that place where seeking help won’t be seen as weakness when it is actually a show of strength.”