Editor's Note: This story contains references to suicide.
Paul Lawson with Mid-City Electric knows his colleagues in the construction industry face higher rates of suicide and overdose deaths than any other job.
The Centers for Disease Control states the overall suicide rates by sex in the civilian working population were 32.0 per 100,000 among males and 8.0 per 100,000 among females. Construction was the second highest, disparately among men with 56 men dying per 100,000 workers.
Only the mining industry was higher.
The opioid epidemic in the United States has also taken its toll on the industry. A CDC study found drug overdose mortality varied by industry, but workers in the construction and extraction occupation group had the highest death rates at 162.6 deaths per 100,000 workers. The overall construction industry group was at 130.9 deaths per 100,000 workers.
Lawson is a risk management coordinator with Mid-City and a lead mental health advocate. Through his work with the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH) and the Builders Exchange of Central Ohio, he is trying to connect his colleagues to mental health and addiction treatment resources.
Lawson said when he saw the CDC statistics, he wasn't shocked because of what he's seen and heard on the ground from his co-workers on the job. A Mid-City company foreman tragically died by suicide in March 2022.
Construction workers labor for long hours doing intense manual labor that puts many at risk for injury. Lawson said this has led many construction workers to be prescribed prescription and highly addictive opioid painkillers as far back as the 1990s.
"From a safety standpoint, we are a safer industry than we've ever been. But now we're seeing people are dying in our industry, not by physical means, but by mental health and overdose," Lawson said.
Lawson said these stats should be a wake up call to the industry regionally.
"When I went out on job sites and started talking to the crews, and especially the crew of the gentleman who died by suicide. They talked about their risk factors and they talked about how it's a hard industry," Lawson said.
These risk factors include injuries on the job, but also risk factors like a macho culture at work, a lack of work-life balance and lots of overtime.
Lawson said the industry's culture doesn't encourage workers to be open about their struggles and warning signs for those at risk of suicide and addiction are missed.
'"(We're told) don't bring that here to work. Like we are here to work, not process our feelings. There's very much a man up culture and a macho culture that has laid the bedrock for those suicide statistics," he said.
Dr. Ameena Kemavor with ADAMH, who goes by Dr. K., is the vice president for advocacy and engagement at ADAMH and is working with Mid-City.
"Construction is a male dominated industry... and men in America are socialized to not be emotional, to not feel, to not talk. But inside of that, not feeling and not talking... that could certainly present some emotional suffering," Kemavor said.
Kemavor said these people may not feel equipped with the right language or the right support in order to speak up and say something and seek help.
Kemavor said the mental health and addiction components are not totally separate and the concerns overlap.
"It could just become this ripple effect, if you will, almost like a perfect storm. Very unfortunately for persons who are having to process through an actual ailment, that's physically hurtful. But then still want to work and need to work because they need to take care of themselves, their family and so forth," Kemavor said.
Lawson said the construction industry culture also leaves a trust gap between workers and resources like ADAMH and the crisis and suicide prevention hotline 988 that could help them.
With ADAMH, Lawson said the Mid-City program they are building consists of "upstream, midstream and downstream" levels.
Lawson said the "upstream" is "all about education and awareness. Midstream is the part of the program that's all about being able to is building a culture where we identify people who are struggling and know where to point them."
The "downstream" focuses on the immediate aftermath of a death or suicide. This includes knowing how to handle it and then following up with the company, families and crews to make sure they're taken care of.
Lawson said he hopes other companies will try to adopt similar practices.
Kemavor said Lawson's work is sparking change already.
"It kind of just lit a fire, here locally with regard to the need for these conversations to be happening in, such a dynamic industry as construction," Kemavor said.
Kemavor said ADAMH has now collaborated with nine different companies since working with Lawson and Mid-City in January. She said it was important for someone to come in and provide a direct link to these resources to workers.
"The construction companies that have invited us to come and talk about behavioral health and addiction, have already been active in this effort. It was just a matter of someone else coming in that could be a direct local resource," Kemavor said.
One visible way Lawson said they are trying to get the word out is distributing a bright red sticker that promotes "worker wellbeing" and implores people to call 988.
These stickers are put on hardhats, which Lawson compares to adding a bumper sticker on a car for construction workers to showcase a person's unique personality and interests.
"You get your hard hat, you immediately get loaded up with stickers, different trainings you've been to, funny stuff. It's a culture thing. It's kind of like you're walking billboard," Lawson said.
Lawson said it is important for these workers to see they can trust these resources.
"A lot of these guys don't trust resources initially. They have to be shown this is a real thing. And this could be really good for (their) family. I would say that has been so effective so far in getting word out in our industry and breaking that stigma," Lawson said.
Lawson said now is as important a time as ever to make these resources known and available for construction workers. Columbus is growing at a fast pace. With that growth, the construction industry is being put to task on expansive road improvements, building housing and working on mega projects like Intel.
He said conversations around suicide and overdose deaths in construction need to be destigmatized by all of these companies and contractors with their workers.
"Those statistics around suicide and overdose aren't going away. So from a central Ohio standpoint, this has to be priority as we are growing as a city and we are accepting all of this construction work. There has to be an equal amount of attention to working on workplace well-being in our industry," Lawson said.
If you are in crisis, please call the 988 crisis and suicide prevention hotline to seek help.
