Last month, about 160 construction insiders and suicide prevention advocates gathered to discuss suicide prevention and mental health. Forefront’s Faculty Director Jennifer Stuber presented Forefront’s LEARN training to show the five steps to intervene with someone at risk for suicide, and spoke about the role everyone has to play in preventing suicide.

The summit was one of many firsts of its kind in the Puget Sound region, but there has been a growing commitment to align the construction industry with those directly working in prevention suicide. The Centers for Disease Control confirmed this need last summer with a study showing that construction holds one of the highest rates of suicide (53.3 out of 100,000).

Brett Enos, a roller operater, spoke at the conference about his own experience with depression and suicide: “I couldn’t operate big, 10,000-pound equipment if my mind wasn’t there. If I can’t focus, it’s dangerous for myself and everyone else.”

Jennifer Stuber addressed the fact that middle-aged men make up the largest demographic of suicides, and are statistically more likely than women to use firearms to end their lives. Stuber also spoke of the important role construction managers play in workplace suicide prevention. This includes watching for suicide warning signs and speaking to staffers they are worried about.

“Suicide is a worker’s safety issue,” said Washington secretary of health John Weisman, adding that the summit’s partnerships are a stride towards making the construction industry aligned for suicide prevention.

The conference, sponsored by the Puget Sound Chapter of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention, and the Association of General Contractors of Washington (AGC-WA), drew partners from all over the state and nation, including other suicide prevention organizations, representatives from the state government, veterans-specific organizations and union representatives.