Construction Suicide Prevention Week highlights practical strategies safety leaders can use to address mental health risks, reduce stigma, improve access to care, and strengthen workforce resilience across jobsites.

• By Trisha Calabrese
• Aug 06, 2026

Construction work often combines long hours, remote sites and heavy physical demands, creating conditions that can increase stress and isolation. Data from the CDC lists construction as the industry with the second highest rate of suicide. This data highlights the importance of continuing to raise awareness, encourage open conversations and support mental health across the industry.

Safety leaders are well positioned to respond. With data pointing to gaps in workplace conditions, access to care and cultural expectations about toughness, safety teams can adapt familiar protocol, such as risk assessments, training, routine observations and incident response, to address psychological as well as physical risk and support worker wellbeing.

Construction Suicide Prevention Week provides an opportunity to turn prevention research into actions that support workers every day. From Sept. 14-18, employers, unions, and community partners across the industry will host trainings, share mental health resources, encourage help‑seeking, and spotlight strategies to reduce stigma and save lives. The week will begin with a nationwide stand-down on Sept. 14 to honor lives lost to suicide and reinforce the industry’s commitment to mental health awareness. Hard Hat Courage is proud to partner with Construction Suicide Prevention Week in support of these efforts.

Hard Hat Courage has a training program called Talk Saves Lives, which is evidence-informed by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and construction industry professionals. Here are three steps that supervisors and crews can take to reduce immediate risk and make a meaningful impact:

1. Make mental health a recognized safety objective
Safety culture determines whether workers feel safe raising concerns about stress, pain, sleep disruption, substance use or overwhelming life events. Leadership behavior sets the tone: when supervisors acknowledge pressures, demonstrate care and follow through on supportive commitments, stigma declines and workers feel more comfortable seeking help. Treating mental health as a measurable part of the project safety plan can have an immediate impact.

Briefings are an efficient way to normalize support without disrupting operations. A two-minute reminder about available resources, confidentiality protections and the importance of looking out for colleagues communicates that psychological safety belongs in normal safety practices.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2026 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.

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