A 26-floor building is under construction off Central Avenue and Fillmore Street in downtown Phoenix on April 14, 2025. (Photo by Cheyla Daverman/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – Eating only a banana for breakfast, Francisco Gomez, 28, starts his five- to six-day workweek at 5 a.m.
“Work can be pretty stressful,” Gomez said. “There’s just so much pressure, you feel like things are your fault and you feel like you can’t do nothing about it.”
Gomez, a father of two, has worked in construction for about five years as a fire stopper, filling gaps between rooms and spraying fire retardants to help prevent fires.
“If the building were to catch on fire, it pretty much gives the people about two to three hours to escape the building before the metal starts melting,” he said.
Gomez, like other construction workers typically clock 40 to 45 hours a week. His bosses at Alpha Insulation & Waterproofing check in with him and his co-workers about their physical health and mental well-being.
“They don’t have counselors but they try to counsel. They try to get us to come up and express ourselves,” Gomez said. “It’s kind of hard because a lot of people don’t want to speak up. I don’t know if it’s embarrassment or what.”
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that analyzed suicide rates across various industries and occupations found certain occupations, such as construction, have higher rates.
“Both classification systems have different meanings,” said Aaron Sussell, a CDC epidemiologist and lead author of the study. He said that in the study, each company or organization is classified into industry groups based on what they do.
Sussell explained that industry is a broader term and includes people who are not doing the “active work out in the field building and fixing things,” unlike the occupation of “Construction and extraction,” which has many subgroups such as carpenters, electricians, stonemasons and miners.
“There are people who are employed in the industry that are accountants, business managers, people who order supplies…” Sussell said.
The suicide rates for both the construction industry and occupation are significantly higher when compared to all industries and occupations combined, per 100,000 men and women.
“Sex is obviously a really important factor,” Sussell said. “Men tend to die of suicide at a significantly higher rate than women, and it’s generally believed that’s because they tend to use more lethal means.”
The researchers believe that suicide risk increases with low-skilled jobs; lower educational attainment; lower socioeconomic status; access to lethal means through work; and job-related stress, including inadequate support from supervisors and colleagues, job insecurity and social stigma.
“Suicide is complex, with many factors as contributors,” Stephanie Stevens, a spokesperson for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), said by email. “Workplaces can be important settings for suicide prevention because work-related factors are associated with suicide.”
Construction work culture varies widely, according to Sarah LaVetter-McCraren, general manager at McCraren Compliance, which offers safety training and specializes in regulatory compliance in the mining, construction and transportation industries.
Culture is influenced by the site owner, general contractor and production stage, LaVetter-McCraren said: “The (mental health) stigma was likely higher in construction and mining, along with other heavily male-dominated industries. Because males have long been messaged that they are supposed to be strong, invincible, the protectors, the caretakers, the ones who just can’t be broken.”
Brian Legan frequently meets with construction workers, guiding them on how to watch their own behaviors and emotions and how to help each other destigmatize and acknowledge mental health challenges. He is the director of training and safety at the Associated Contractors of New Mexico, a nonprofit association that represents the transportation and utility construction industry across the state. His training often focuses on the impact of workplace bullying.
“Once a co-worker is labeled or shown as the butt of jokes, or the weaker target, it’s nearly impossible to remove that stigma,” Legan said by email. “I’ve witnessed several times in my career a person targeted by bullies, who ends up leaving not only the crew but the district they work in, and as a result, they thrive and excel in the new work environment.”
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.”
Hawkins said there’s a stigma around the idea that “we’re construction workers, we don’t have those problems. We walk it off.”
But he said, “That’s not the case. And so that stigma is dying with the old generation and this new generation of 18- to 24-year-old kids… coming into the trade, they’re embracing the mental aspect of it.”
“There’s a lot of trip hazards,” he said. “We have got to take care of each other, like, ‘Hey bro, watch your step,’ or clean up in front of a person before they get to the area. Stuff like that.”
Hawkins noted there has been an increase in programs directly combating suicide in the construction trade, “so in those times of need you know how to navigate those situations, how to help them – sometimes literally how to talk them off the ledge, how to get them to open up. We’re not here to diagnose. We’re just here to support.”
But co-workers shouldn’t bear sole responsibility for one another, LaVetter-McCraren said. Instead, she described workplace support as “the door to conversations” that should lead to professional resources and training.
The CDC has outlined strategies for suicide prevention, including strengthening economic support, investing in community relationships through training and awareness and improving access to treatment and support.
“You have your home family, and then you have your construction family,” Hawkins said. “A lot of us who have spent time in the field formed lifelong friendships and bonds. And I’m not talking about just going out and grabbing some burgers and beers, but you’re at each other’s weddings. You’re at the hospital for your firstborn.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free and available 24/7. Call or text 988.
McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.
Original article published by Cronkite News