SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) \u2014 A silent crisis is unfolding within the construction industry, where suicide and mental health struggles have reached alarming levels.<\/p>\n
The issue gained attention after a recent Utah Construction Licensing Board meeting revealed widespread concern and is backed up by data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> showing construction has the second-highest suicide rate of any occupation in the nation, behind only mining.<\/p>\n Now, industry leaders, survivors, and a Utah university research team are stepping forward to confront the problem head-on.<\/p>\n MORE | Silicon Slopes hosts town hall on healing with mental health and grief experts<\/a><\/p>\n Scott Martin, founder of Surviving Life\u2019s Pickles<\/a>, has lived the crisis personally.<\/p>\n \u201cMarch of 2024, I had my personal suicide attempt. Luckily, I\u2019m here today and survived that,\u201d Martin said. \u201cDuring that time, as I was getting treatment, I lost another coworker to suicide, and I also lost another friend.\u201d<\/p>\n Martin, whose family has worked in construction for generations, said the industry\u2019s culture makes it difficult for workers to speak openly.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody wants to deal with it; nobody knows how to deal with it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd when you\u2019re at a job site a lot of the time you are by yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n For Tyler Nerdin, owner of Mountain Man Plumbing<\/a>, the nonstop pressure and lack of work-life balance drove him to leave the industry altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cTowards the end of my career in construction, weekends were considered mandatory workdays,\u201d Nerdin said. \u201cIt was difficult to separate your work from your personal life.\u201d<\/p>\n The numbers reflect their stories. The suicide rate among construction workers is 75% higher than the national average \u2014 and five times higher than the number of workers killed in job-site accidents each year.<\/p>\n Martin believes communication remains one of the biggest barriers.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t know how to talk about it. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that they don\u2019t want to \u2014 it\u2019s they don\u2019t know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Some employers are confronting the issue directly, including Slade Opheikens, President of R&O Construction.<\/p>\n \u201cI have depression, I have anxiety,\u201d Opheikens said. \u201cI started to hear it so much, especially with a certain generation, that I thought: Is this how people are now identifying or is it what they are struggling with? Having not struggled with it, I was misjudging \u2014 that was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Opheikens soon learned that even when employees ask for help, it can take months to access professional care.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting the right help has a waiting list of like three months \u2014 and that\u2019s too long,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n With support from the Associated General Contractors of Utah (AGC of Utah), construction companies are now collaborating to share mental-health resources and best practices.<\/p>\n \u201cSharing all the good makes us all better \u2014 and that\u2019s the same with mental health,\u201d Opheikens said.<\/p>\n The next step, he believes, is cultural change.<\/p>\n \u201cWe as managers can set realistic deadlines,\u201d he said. \u201cNot commit to deadlines on projects that make everybody give up their home life.\u201d<\/p>\n While construction companies work on the front lines, Brigham Young University researchers are taking a long-term approach.<\/p>\n James Smith, an associate professor at BYU, is leading a nationwide study into construction-worker mental health \u2014 a topic he said has been understudied for years.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not something that has gotten a ton of academic attention,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n When asked whether construction is behind other industries in addressing mental well-being, his answer was direct: \u201cI would say yes the lack of female involvement comparatively, I think, hinders us. That\u2019s a theory I have.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith and his team are gathering data, exploring cultural contributors, and testing theories. But he cautions that finding concrete solutions will take years.<\/p>\n The study is nearly two years old and is currently seeking long-term external funding that could sustain it for the next 20 years.<\/p>\n For Martin, sharing his story is a way to prevent others from facing the same pain.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve taken that pain and we\u2019ve turned it into a real good purpose,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But everyone involved agrees that much more work remains.<\/p>\n AGC of Utah<\/a> launched a statewide Mental Health Summit and established a centralized mental-health support hub to help workers and employers navigate resources and training.<\/p>\n If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, crisis support and resources are available.<\/p>\n Dial 988 for the 24\/7 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or visit Utah 211<\/a> for a comprehensive list of resources. You can also find immediate help through the SafeUT Crisis Chat and Tip Line<\/a>.<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) \u2014 A silent crisis is unfolding within the construction industry, where suicide and mental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":{"0":"post-143085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}