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Construction Financial Management Association Leads Suicide Prevention Efforts07-25-16 | News

Construction Financial Management Association Leads Suicide Prevention Efforts
Seeks to Help End Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness

The construction and extraction industry has a suicide rate of 53.3 per 100,000 workers, second only to the farming, fishing, and forest occupational group according to the CDC.

Statistics released recently from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that workers in construction and extraction have the second highest rate of suicide: 53.3 per 100,000 workers. Only the farming, fishing, and forest occupational group at 84.5 per 100,000 has a greater rate.

According to the Construction Financial Management Association, this data heightens the need to address suicide prevention and mental health promotion in the industry. Taking a leading role, the organization, which works to bring together construction financial professionals and those partners serving their needs, formed the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention to gather and disseminate key information and resources, share education and programming for CFMA's 94 chapters across North America, and promote initiatives to support suicide prevention.

Stuart Binstock, CFMA president & CEO explains, "At CFMA's 2016 Annual Conference & Exhibition, we brought the topic of suicide prevention to an audience of our nearly 1,300 attendees by offering two general education sessions and presentations to chapter leaders, providing flash drives, and introducing our new online resource. (www.cfma.org/suicideprevention)

"As a construction company controller, I understand the importance of protecting and supporting our most valuable asset"?uour human capital," adds CFMA chairman Ken Chiccotella. "In conjunction with our conference theme of Building It Forward, ensuring not only the physical well-being, but also the mental health of our workforce must be core to our business strategies and goals."

CFMA's Valley of the Sun Chapter recently presented the inaugural Suicide Prevention Summit, a collaboration between construction and mental health professionals to discuss suicide prevention for the construction industry. Charlotte and Portland chapters have similar events scheduled for later this fall, and additional chapters are already planning events for 2017.

The newly released "Construction + Suicide Prevention" publications by Cal Beyer, director of risk management at Lakeside Industries and executive committee member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, and mental health advocate Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas, CEO and co-founder of the Carson J. Spencer Foundation, address why suicide prevention is an imperative in the construction industry, and provide 10 action steps companies can take to save lives.