b'More Worker Benefits Can Lead toIn a survey of apprentices in the International Union of Improved Mental Health, Studies ShowElevator Constructors Local 1, 43% said paid sick leave was the biggest condition theyd change. Factors including paid medical or family leave correlated with reduced rates of suicide in construction, according to panelists of aPrograms that help recent CPWR webinar.IUEC Local 1 founded its employee aid program when five apprentices died as a result of drug overdoses during an 11-month period, Weingarten said.Union leaders provide education on drug and alcohol use, referrals for treatment facility groups and recovery meetings and support to members and families, per Weingarten. Prior to 2016, 10% of members who went for treatment of drug or alcohol use maintained recovery, but after the program was established, that number jumped to 78%. Construction workers often struggle with mental health issues, but the keys to improving the well- In addition to that program, CPWR highlighted the Sheet being of the industrys workforce may beMetal Occupational Health Institute Trust program on straightforward and attainable.drug outreach. Based in Falls Church, Virginia, SMOHIT Construction workers die by suicide at a higher rate than theis jointly sponsored by the International Association of national average, per the Centers for Disease Control andSheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers and the Prevention. But understanding the root causes of theseSheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National challenges as well as what can mitigate mental healthAssociation, originally designed to address the impact of struggles can help. asbestos exposure. A recent webinar hosted by Silver Spring, Maryland-basedToday, SMOHITs mission focuses on total health.CPWRThe Center for Construction Research and Training sought to share information around those factors.That means visiting SMACNA union chapters and paying workers wages for two days to get them to stop work and Jonathan Davis, assistant professor of occupational andreceive training on drug awareness and first aid, said environmental health at the University of Iowa, studied U.S.Edmund Robison, SMOHIT field representative. violent death data from 2013 through 2020. He found that of the nearly 130,000 people who died by suicide duringAs a part of the training and outreach, unions receive that time, 15% of them worked in construction.training on naloxone use and SMOHIT leaves the opioid overdose reversal drug at each chapter.Where we found the biggest difference for construction workers was alcohol and substance use, Davis said duringRobison said that the training is well-received, and not the March 25 webinar. That lets us infer that anyjust by the unions. Employers have increasingly sought to intervening on alcohol and substance use will likely bringtake part in education and outreach. down that rate of suicide. We havent really hit any obstacles with our But his research did not stop there. It also looked into lawsemployers once they realize how good and across states in an attempt to better understand whatwholesome this is and how its really helping our benefits correlate with improved mental health. people on the jobsites, Robison said. They want us to come educate their contractor associations For example, states that have paid family medical leave hadon this.a 60% reduction in female suicides and a 21% drop in male suicides compared to those states that did not have suchBy: Zachary Phillips -Editor laws. Paid vacation time also correlated with a 7% reduction in male suicide and 32% in women, Davis said. Those results provide some suggestive evidence that paid leave would be something that would help bring down the rate of suicide especially if implemented at the employer-employee level, he said.Allison Weingarten, senior analyst for Washington, D.C.-based professional services firm MDB , who presented a case study on a New York unions assistance program, shared similar data during the webinar. 5'