WASHINGTON, D.C. — Global construction and engineering giant Bechtel has pledged $7 million over five years to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in order to increase efforts to combat suicide in the industry.
The donation is the largest the AFSP has ever received, and the highest in the Bechtel Group Foundation’s history, according to the announcement. The funds will be used to set up programs that reach 500,000 U.S. construction workers.
The Reston, Virginia-based contractor made the announcement at an event at the Wharf Dockmaster Building in Washington, D.C., Tuesday morning. Industry leaders and trade and labor group representatives were in attendance at the event that featured a panel discussion with speakers from Bechtel, AFSP and North America’s Building Trade Unions.
Bechtel CEO Brendan Bechtel noted that construction has the second highest rate of suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“That is a shameful statistic for us as an industry,” Bechtel said during the event.
About 56 male workers and about 10 female workers per 100,000 in construction died by suicide in 2021, according to the CDC’s most recent data. Both are higher than the nationwide average rates of 32 and eight, respectively.
Construction’s on-the-job fatality rate was 9.6 deaths per 100,000 workers that same year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, meaning construction workers died by suicide at a significantly higher rate than they died due to their hazardous work.
Why now?
Bechtel, who has been CEO since 2016, said that although he has been around his family’s company since he was young and worked on jobsites as a teenager, he has never known a direct colleague who died from a workplace hazard, yet he has known multiple who have died by suicide.
With increased money flowing to the industry with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and CHIPS and Science Act, construction is booming, Bechtel said. In the last few decades, the industry has made strides to improve safety through investment, research and training, he said.
“There’s a playbook,” Bechtel said. “There’s no reason we couldn’t do the same for mental health.”
At the same time, the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic have taken their toll on worker health, especially in construction, said Sean McGarvey, president of NABTU. Thankfully, McGarvey noted, the widespread issues helped workers realize that mental health struggles happen to many people.
Examples and models
The timing couldn’t be better for an investment like this, said Christine Yu Moutier, chief medical officer for AFSP, as the suicide research field understands more about the subject and how to combat it.
Both Moutier and AFSP CEO Robert Gebbia described a model employed by the U.S. Air Force to curb suicide among its members focused around education and outreach. When the program ended, the rate began to climb again, Moutier said at the event.
“One thing we’ve learned about suicide prevention, it’s not one and done. It’s got to be sustainable,” said Gebbia.
Bechtel said his company has looked at models in Australia and the U.K. as examples of how to curb the “macho man” stigma that can prevent workers who are suffering from speaking up. For example, the MATES program in Australia focuses on raising awareness, removing shame around mental health issues and connecting those affected with resources.
Organizers said the details of the Bechtel/AFSP partnership are still being worked out.
“But this gives me real hope,” McGarvey said.
Bechtel also said that construction safety efforts are usually a collaborative effort, even among competitors. Enhancing the mental health and well-being of workers should be seen that way too, Bechtel said.
“It’s not just about saving lives, it’s also about improving lives,” he said.
