Building workers urged to ‘open up’

Construction workers are being encouraged to ask their colleagues “are you OK?” as new figures show “startlingly” high levels of suicides among men working in and around the industry.

Wed, 29 Apr, 2015 - 01:00

Stephen Rogers

‘Mind Our Workers’, a joint report and campaign by the Construction Industry Federation and suicide prevention organisation Pieta House, found that an estimated 1,039 men from a construction/production background died by suicide between 2008 and 2012. That was almost half the total of 2,137 male suicides between those years.

“The level of suicide in the construction sector has been startling,” said CIF director general Tom Parlon. “As an industry we can’t ignore this problem — there is a necessity to help those in need.”

The figures compiled by the two organisations found that men account for eight out of 10 suicides — of the 6,520 people who took their own lives here between 2000 and 2012, 5,263 were men.

The report authors found a significant correlation between the end of the Celtic tiger and beginning of the recession in 2007, and an increase in the number of people dying by suicide.

“Between the years of 2001 and 2007, when Ireland was experiencing peak economic growth, we had seen a steady decline in the overall and male rates of suicide,” the authors state, pointing out that the total fell from 519 in 2001 to 458 in 2007.

“As the recession gripped from 2007 onwards, however, suicide rates began to rise again. Between 2007 and 2009 the totals rose from 458 to 552 — a jump of 21%. While there was a drop in overall numbers in 2010, there were higher levels of suicide again in 2011 and 2012.”

CIF and Pieta House pointed out that men account for 108,300, or 93%, of the 116,700 people working in the construction industry.

Their campaign is being conducted through leafleting, video presentations, workshops, and social media. The campaign runs throughout the year.

They highlighted a number of potential suicide triggers such as the loss of a major relationship and work-related issues, as well as a number of potential signs that a person could be suicidal, including:

Increased isolation;
Turning off phone, quitting social media;
Decreased performance in work/sports;
Increased alcohol or drug usage;
Giving away personal possessions;
Talking about death.

“A greater level of understanding and more open culture about these extremely important issues needs to exist,” said CIF president Michael Stone.

“We want to see a working environment whereby it is acceptable for men to ask their friends and colleagues, ‘Are you OK?’ Men in any walk of life should be able to talk about their problems. We need to take these matters out of the shadows and bring them into the light.

“If even one life is saved thanks to the awareness and understanding promoted by this campaign then everyone in the CIF and Pieta House will consider the campaign to have been a great success.”

Pieta House chief executive Brian Higgins pointed out that as well as suicide, self-harm is also a significant issue. He said more than 12,000 people presented to emergency departments in 2012 with self-harm.

“We want to equip people with the capacity to spot the signs when a person is in distress and to create an environment where it’s OK to ask for help, and equally to offer help and support,” he said.