A recent paper from Glasgow Caledonian University, made a sobering read as it highlights a frightening statistic we can’t ignore: in the UK construction industry, there are approximately 470 deaths by suicide each year.
Studies on mental health are increasingly complementing those on safety and physical health within the construction research community, with suicide numbers being an indicative measure of mental health. In the UK, deaths by suicide are approximately 470 per year, which dwarfs fatal accident numbers.
This paper aims to review the evidence base about suicide and construction workers. The methods consisted of two approaches: combining secondary data from UK statistical databases to create a suicide rate per 100,000 for construction occupations; and a systematic literature review to help explain the suicide rates observed.
Trend analysis of suicide rates, from 2015 to 2021 shows construction occupations to be approximately three times that of the combined non-construction occupations, and steadily rising, whereas non-construction rates have remained relatively steady.
Unskilled workers have the highest rate, around seven times managers and professional occupations. Potential reasons for this, found in the literature, included managers/professionals’ greater propensity to shift beliefs about suicide stigmas, and skilled workers being more likely to report substance abuse; – rather than hide it, thereby increasing opportunities to discuss and resolve such issues to reduce suicide risk. However, the socio-economic risk associated with unskilled workers means being poor is certainly not good for their mental health.
The analysis presented in this paper informs industry policy and practice by uncovering a previously unknown upward trend in suicide rates among UK construction workers, along with a focused list of evidence-based factors to inform further research on why this phenomenon is occurring.
To read the paper in full visit: www.researchonline.gcu.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/82283223/82274781.pdf
We spoke to Holly Tuffin, Co-Founder at The Condor Collective about the findings of the ‘Suicides among construction occupations in the UK’ paper in relation to the Condor Collective’s recently completed benchmarking exercise, Project Happiness: benchmarking happiness & engagement in the fit-out sector1.
Holly explained that they identified several key parallels with the paper published by Glasgow Caledonian University.
She said: “One of the primary findings is the impact of stress on mental health, particularly among younger professionals. In our research, 52% of professionals aged 25-34 reported high levels of stress on a monthly basis. This echoes the paper’s discussion on job insecurity and economic cycles as major stressors, which likely contribute to the mental health struggles faced by many in this age group.
“We also observed generational differences in how employees perceive mental health support. Our data shows that older workers (45-64) feel more supported by their companies, with 54% agreeing, while only 17.5% of younger workers (17-25) feel the same. This supports the paper’s argument that younger, working-class males in construction may not have access to the same mental health support systems, making them more vulnerable to mental health crises.
“There were 507 suicides of people working in construction in 2021, 503 of whom were male, and only 4 females. Our research highlighted gender disparities in stress levels. Males report a higher daily stress percentage of 29% in comparison to women at 19% suggesting they might experience acute stress more frequently.”
She concluded: “These findings from both our research and the ‘Suicides among construction occupations in the UK’ paper emphasise the importance of targeted mental health interventions that consider factors like age, gender, and career stage. By addressing these unique needs, we can work toward reducing stress and improving mental health support across the construction industry.”
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