New York State Bridge Authority and Office of Mental Health representatives gathered state lawmakers, local emergency response teams and community leaders for a suicide prevention summit last month to raise awareness, discuss better collaboration and review suicide prevention and emergency mental health response practices around the state’s vehicular and pedestrian bridges, parks and other public spaces.

Almost 30 years ago when I started my career in the construction industry, mental health was rarely talked about.

There is a growing recognition that aside from fall risks, another invisible construction jobsite danger is mental health disorders.

Boosting peer-to-peer support is critical in reducing the construction industry’s high suicide rate, said mental health advocates at the Construction Working Minds Summit, held May 17-18 in Denver.

In 2004, as a 16-year veteran in the mental health field, clinical psychologist Sally Spencer-Thomas thought she knew a lot about how the mind works.

While the construction industry continues to contend with the opioid crisis, Dave Argus found that offering a helping hand to recovering addicts is not only an act of compassion, it’s good business.

Firms should put in place a comprehensive plan to help workers through high-stress periods in their lives.

Many who have lived through mental distress and addiction are now raising their voices to remove stigma and propel real action to combat these twin epidemics.