Chief executives from leading construction companies—Bechtel, Fluor, Turner Construction Company, North America’s Building Trades Unions, Kiewit, Clark Construction, DPR Construction, Skanska, and Stanley Black & Decker, including its DEWALT® brand—have come together as founding members of a new CEO Advisory Council. This council will spearhead efforts aimed at addressing the high suicide rates within the construction industry by developing targeted mental health solutions.
The initiative, originally launched by Bechtel, is bolstered by the largest financial pledge ever made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). The primary goal is to create industry-specific mental health programs to reach half a million U.S. construction workers over the next five years. This effort is led by AFSP’s newly established Construction Initiatives team, aiming to increase awareness and provide vital resources for suicide prevention in the sector. For further details, the official press release provides in-depth information on this collaboration.
The formation of the CEO Advisory Council underscores a collective commitment to uniting the industry in addressing mental health challenges.
“Suicide prevention and mental health are issues that touch everyone in the construction industry,” said Brendan Bechtel, Bechtel chairman and CEO. “Just like with worksite safety, nothing is proprietary when it comes to saving lives. My fellow industry leaders share this belief, and by joining this council, they’ve shown that they are committed to working together to find solutions. I’m deeply grateful for their participation as founding partners. The more we can engage a broad group of leaders and collaborate on solutions, the more effective we will be in providing our people the support they need. We owe it to them, to our colleagues, and to their families to find solutions and prevent these tragedies.”
“It’s powerful to see these top leaders across the construction community coming together to support this unique suicide prevention initiative,” said Robert Gebbia, AFSP CEO. “Their involvement sends a clear message that the industry is committed to finding solutions and making a difference in the lives of its workers. The council members’ insights will be invaluable to our team at AFSP as we develop the programs and resources to make this effort successful. We look forward to their collaboration.”
The founding members of the council include:
The council will meet quarterly to review existing mental health programs, identify gaps, and develop new initiatives to better support construction workers across the industry. These efforts will focus on improving mental health training, increasing awareness, and enhancing access to support resources.
Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction and project management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities to our customers’ objectives to create a lasting positive impact. Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of the world's infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources, and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner place.
Bechtel serves the Energy; Infrastructure; Manufacturing & Technology; Mining & Metals; and Nuclear, Security & Environmental markets. Our services span from initial planning and investment, through start-up and operations. www.bechtel.com
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