Workplace distractions run the gamut in the construction industry. Finances, a nagging injury or other health issue, substance abuse, a family member’s health problem, an argument with a spouse or significant other, problems for a child at school, uncertainty about one’s career, a grudge or unresolved conflict with a co-worker—the list goes on.
These distractions do not discriminate: They affect both men and women, whether they work on jobsites, in administrative offices or in the C-suite, obscuring focus on both routine and critical tasks and creating the potential for everything from lapses in productivity to serious injuries or even fatalities. Add to these stressors the physical strain of the work, demanding project deadlines, and the long hours and travel required on some jobs, and there’s a perfect storm of factors contributing to a crisis-level prevalence of mental health struggles in construction.
Many construction companies are proactively responding in various ways, both independently and in tandem with Associated Builders and Contractors’ Total Human Health Initiative, a part of ABC’s STEP Safety Management Program.
ABC’s THHI Toolkit, published in June 2024, details how construction companies can create, assess or further develop their own THH-related programs. Such programs include organizing workshop conversations about overall wellness, coordinating with insurance carriers to find and share information about all resources available to employees, offering counseling resources, reaffirming company wellness culture through training programs and helping employees develop their own personal wellness practices and behaviors.
THH initiatives go beyond physical health and OSHA requirements to focus on the whole person—mind, body and soul—to build, as ABC indicates, “a resilient workforce that is connected through relationships and engaged in performing construction work to a high standard of safety, quality and effectiveness.”
RISK VS. REWARD
Michael Bennett—vice president of health, safety and environment and human resources for Cianbro Corporation—who has worked on THH-related matters for years, says, “Distractors are out there in the world—that’s all the noise around us in life—and we bring those to work with us.” He sees “a moral responsibility for our team members to make sure that we all have each other’s backs.”
The industry long has had heightened risk factors for health and safety, including mental health and, tragically, suicide. One such factor is a high concentration of men, who have a higher suicide rate than women, with men comprising 95% of the on-the-jobsite workforce and 85% of the construction workforce overall. Joe Xavier, senior director of health and safety for Associated Builders and Contractors, says: “Men can be less relational than the overall population, meaning men who may be going through personal or professional difficulties may not have the kind of personal relationships that can serve as a support network or sounding board.”
The stereotypical expectation that construction workers are tough and macho, and thus do not need help with personal issues, amplifies that effect. Such mental health risk factors can result in yet another one: “a lack of feelings of belonging and connectedness that most people need,” Xavier says.
As industry executives point out, it is a very serious matter. Figures for suicide rates in the industry in recent years vary, but in 2024, men in construction had rates 75% higher than the general population, with rates for women also higher, with significant numbers of workers indicating mental health struggles at some point in their lives. Suicides killed six times the number of construction workers in 2022 as did workplace incidents.
Further, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, veterans comprise roughly 6.5% of the construction industry workforce, with veterans statistically at higher risk for suicide than the overall population. In addition, injuries on the job, which can be painful and prolonged, can potentially spiral into substance abuse. According to a study published in December 2023, both men and women in construction have higher suicide rates as compared to the overall working population; only mining had a higher comparative rate.
Construction companies are taking action, organizing THH-related programs that vary in name and scope. Yet whatever is offered, workers must cope with an ever-changing situation in the workplace. Bennett puts it this way: “We’re dealing with people and human lives, so every day is a learning experience.”
Xavier adds: “In construction, so many things are happening at any given moment—it’s hazardous enough without any distractions. One second could be the difference between a normal day and fatal, tragic day.”
A DYNAMIC SITUATION
Today’s changing workforce is presenting new realities and challenges. As professionals in the THH field see it, one new reality is that it’s a fallacy to think workers can simply ‘leave it at the gate and put in your eight.’ The typical attitude, Xavier says, was: “Don’t bring your personal problems here; don’t complain; just get the job done.”
That’s easier said than done. THH professionals believe that the old attitude just doesn’t work—it is not an effective way to address wellness and safety. As Bennett says, “We like to think that everyone just checks their emotions at the door and everybody forgets about them, but it’s really not true.”
Xavier echoes: “Today, we have different goals, different languages, different ages and generations. We need to see things from other peoples’ perspectives.” The diverse workforce is an added impetus for the industry to understand and take action on THH issues.
THH advocates in construction note a heightened awareness of the importance of a workforce that is healthy physically as well as mentally. Paul Crivac, director of safety for Three Rivers Corporation, who is active in THH matters, says: “We’re talking about taking care of the total employee,” including a “huge” factor: mental health. After all, when a worker has mental health issues, Crivac says, “it doesn’t help any of us, whether it’s the company, the folks in the field or clients.”
For Crivac, THH boils down to focusing on employees’ whole self: mental and physical health as well as their financial, occupational, emotional and spiritual wellness. In other words: “all of those things occupy our minds as humans while we’re trying to do our day job.”
As Brittany Dewar, a spokesperson for Warfel Construction and a member of the company’s wellness committee, says of employees wherever they are working today, “A lot has happened since the pandemic, a lot of people are struggling outside of work.”
EFFECTIVE RESPONSES
Bennett describes Cianbro’s THH efforts as “part of the DNA of the organization.” The company has brought in certified mental-health first-aid instructors who trained and certified the senior leadership team. THH is part of orientation “from day one” and education continues for employees through their career. Further, Cianbro has health and wellness components that, among other things, offer employees no-cost mental health counseling, fitness and weight-loss incentives, and reduced medical premiums for those who undergo annual physicals with biometric measurements.
Simmons describes a comprehensive program at Helix with components that range from helping employees manage stress to facilitating their participation in volunteer efforts in local communities. The company’s Helix Helping Hands charity organizes drives in which local employees form groups that identify need and coordinate with local organizations.
Warfel Construction’s program, overseen by a committee that includes employees, looks at wellness issues holistically and organizes its efforts into three comprehensive areas: personal, professional and physical. As Dewar explains, personal activities include support groups for employees, education sessions on personal matters like 401K planning and things to know when buying a home, and personally rewarding community volunteer work. Professional activities include with mentorship, leadership training and local business community networking programs. The final aspect, the physical, includes yoga and high-intensity interval training classes for employees.
The company also conducts an annual program called Warfel Wellness Screening that, as Dewar says, is “designed to support our team’s overall health through annual routine checkups. The screening includes biometric assessments and optional flu shot vaccinations, along with the opportunity for employees to meet privately with a nurse. Screenings are held at each of our four office locations, and field employees are provided with approved time away from jobsites to participate.”
RULES OF THUMB
THH programs require support from both human resources and safety staff. Xavier points out, however, that “this issue is way too big” to limit it to those departments. Instead, “the companies that we see that do this exceptionally well are the ones that have someone in the top C-suite driving it. That’s where it needs to start. At the top,” he explains. Some THH programs do result from grassroots, employee-driven efforts, “but to be successful ultimately, it has to be from the top and involve everyone.”
Simmons urges decision makers in the field contemplating a formalized THH program to “remember that you’re not in this alone. Look at ABC’s THHI Toolkit. Your company is probably doing a number of things already.” Crivac echoes the point: “A lot of companies are doing a handful of THH steps already. It can be a matter of building upon that.”
“Ask your employees,” says Dewar, “Ask them what they need to feel more supported and for them to see success. And then companies can take that feedback and implement it.”
BIG BENEFITS
Advocates in the field see THH-related initiatives as an important and timely investment. As Simmons says, “This stuff pays dividends. We’re all competing in a very tight labor market, and [such initiatives] are another way to differentiate your company, to demonstrate that your company is a good place to work and that we’re a good industry to work in.”
THH can tangibly address common misperceptions about construction that can stifle recruitment efforts. “We have to get people into the industry, and we’ve been portrayed negatively. The reality is that there are many smart, passionate people in this industry and we are building this country,” Simmons says. “Creating THH programs is another way to help turn around negative perceptions of the industry.”
Crivac argues that doing those things “really makes sense, particularly now, with the shortage of skilled craftspeople across the nation.” The overall industry is short more than 450,000 workers in 2025, according to ABC.
For Simmons, THH boils down to attracting and retaining workers by helping them to “have healthy, long and prosperous careers.” He adds, “THH is really starting to open people’s eyes to the realization that construction is so much more than physical safety, hard hats and steel boots.”
“We’re really at a unique time when THH is going to help us in the industry to transition beyond traditional occupational safety,” Crivac says. Yet, “the jobsite is where the rubber meets the road.” He adds that a company “can say a lot of words—but until we implement and practice things with our people, they’re just words. You want the best people you can have, and THH is a good, good place to start.”
SEE ALSO: PLANNING FOR THE HUMAN FACTOR IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT SAFETY
