From Shots: Health News from NPR:

In 2014, construction company RK experienced the suicide of a worker, shaking its 1,500 employees and becoming a pivotal event for the company.

The death brought home some painful facts. Construction and mining (including oil drilling) have the highest suicide rates of all occupations, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the suicide rate for working-age adults has been rising in the U.S., increasing by 34% to 17.3 suicides per 100,000 in 2015 from 12.9 in 2012.

Kinning spent the months after the incident meeting with industry leaders and suicide experts.

The result: RK, which was founded 56 years ago by Kinning’s father, eventually put together what is now regarded as a model for suicide prevention in the construction industry. It involves 24-hour access to counseling services, lenient leave policies and crisis training for managers, among other things.

Most critically, says Kinning, the company embraced lots and lots of open talk about mental health.  Kinning estimates having averted around 15 suicides since launching the program.

Learn more at https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/12/12/783300736/a-construction-company-embraces-frank-talk-about-mental-health-to-reduce-suicide.

The American Journal of Industrial Medicine published findings from BTMed’s researchers, “Mortality of Older Construction and Craft Workers Employed at Department of Energy Nuclear Sites: Follow-up Through 2016”. Findings showed that DOE construction workers were at significant risk for diseases associated with occupational exposures, including all cancers. The study highlights the importance of continued medical screening and early lung cancer detection for the health and welfare of workers.

Visit www.btmed.org/…/Medi…/AJIM-Mortality-of-DOE-Workers-2019.pdf to read the full paper.

In order to reduce the risk of these types of injuries, CPWR has created the Best Built Plans program (BBP), which provides resources to plan for safe manual materials handling at each project stage and to use on the job to raise awareness and reinforce safe practices.  The program has recently been updated and improved based on the results of contractor pilot testing.

CPWR’s Best Built Plans program (BBP) is designed to reduce the risks for manual materials handling (sprain and strain) injuries by providing contractors with resources to plan for safe manual materials handling at each project stage and to use on the job to raise awareness and reinforce safe practices.  Thanks to a small group of contractors who piloted the program, new resources have been added, including an app version of the planning and interactive training resources, a Spanish version of the planning tool, and a video on how to use the program. Also, with help from the United Association and the Mechanical Contractors Association of America and input from industry trainers, a new training program for workers and contractors that builds on BBP resources has been piloted and will be released soon.

The next World Congress on Safety and Health at Work is being held on October 4-7, 2020 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada, and the call for abstracts is open!

Participants from around the world are invited to submit abstracts. The deadline for submitting abstracts is now January 15, 2020. Click here to find out more and visit the Abstract Submission Portal to submit now.