Confronting Suicide in the Construction Industry
America’s construction workforce is vital to our nation’s infrastructure. Tragically, the construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among all professions in the U.S., with about five times as many construction workers losing their lives to suicide compared to the general population. At AFSP, we cannot ignore the urgency of this issue.
Hard Hat Courage, the AFSP initiative representing the construction industry’s collective commitment to address suicide in construction, was developed this fiscal year following the March 2024 announcement of a multiyear partnership with Bechtel dedicated to fighting suicide in the construction industry. Over the course of the five-year grant, Bechtel’s $7 million commitment to AFSP — the largest pledge in AFSP’s history and the largest single donation from the Bechtel Group Foundation — will provide critical resources and programming to 500,000 U.S. construction workers. Programming started to rollout during Construction Safety Week in May 2025, and as of September’s Construction Suicide Prevention Week (CSPW), the initiative has reached more than 188,000 workers with education and campaign materials. Bechtel’s leading industry knowledge and influence, in combination with AFSP’s expertise in suicide prevention research and education, is a powerful force for effecting change and providing hope within the construction industry.
Charting a Course for the Future
As part of its five-year commitment to AFSP, Bechtel formed the CEO Advisory Council in October 2024, teaming up with top construction-industry executives to represent more than three million construction and union workers across the U.S. This past March, AFSP hosted the CEO Advisory Council’s inaugural meeting, with executives attending from Bechtel, Fluor, Turner Construction, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), Kiewit, Clark Construction, DPR Construction, and Skanska. The initial meeting was an important moment to reflect on the partnership’s first year and to continue building an agenda by evaluating current initiatives, discussing industry-wide strategies, and establishing goals to lower suicide rates and improve mental health across the construction industry. The CEO Advisory Council has since welcomed Stanley Blacker & Decker as a member, and AFSP has formed partnerships across the construction industry, including a partnership with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers announced in April 2024 and CSPW.
Building Culturally Competent Programs
This past May, AFSP launched Talk Saves Lives: An Introduction to Suicide Prevention in the Construction Industry – the first available resource that will ultimately make up a larger toolkit of construction-specific education and support programs. Informed by industry professionals, Talk Saves Lives: Construction is a new program adapted from our flagship, peer-to-peer educational program Talk Saves Lives: An Introduction to Suicide Prevention. The presentation provides an overview of suicide in the construction industry, risk factors and warning signs of suicide, and strategies to prevent it.
Construction Hike for Hope is a series of local hiking events hosted by AFSP in communities across the country to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention in the construction industry.
