As temperatures rise, construction workers’ days will start and end earlier, according to Francisco Gomez, a worker at this site off Central Avenue in Phoenix, on April 22, 2025. (Photo by Cheyla Daverman/Cronkite News)
Stressors for construction workers include chronic pain, performance pressure because of the schedule, budget, sleep deprivation due to inconsistent shifts, drug and alcohol use and “tough guy” culture.
The industries do not exist in silos, and wider cultural shifts also affect workplace attitudes and approaches.
Both LaVetter-McCraren and Sussell noted that in recent years, the construction industry has been paying more attention to the workers’ physical and emotional needs, sometimes offering online training, community support and conferences.
“The workplace can be a place to recognize that and to initiate some activities to try to figure it out better and do some suicide prevention work with the employees,” Sussell said. “If it’s at the level of a company or one particular industry, it’s very important to talk to people in the industry. People, workers, management.”
A generational shift is helping drive greater awareness of mental health in the construction industry, according to Sidney Hawkins, a safety and mental health director at the Phoenix-based 4×5 Suicide Prevention Program, a nonprofit that partners with construction companies to certify workers in “mental health first aid.”