Why it is Critical to Focus on Mental Health Awareness

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter.  

Watch this important Coffee Conversation for tools and resources that can save a life.  

RoofersCoffeesShop® President Heidi Ellsworth joins with Mandy McIntyre and Christee Holbrook of Graham Roofing in Season 3 Episode 18 of Coffee Conversations for a poignant conversation about mental health.  

The construction industry has some of the highest suicide rates, with construction workers more likely to die by suicide than all other job site hazards combined. In this Coffee Conversation, we discuss why this is and what we can do to prevent suicide and help co-workers and ourselves from hurting.  

“I have a passion for diversity, equity and inclusion for topics such as mental health, leadership, women's empowerment, so these conversations are so important to me,” says Mandy McIntyre, stressing the importance of normalizing these conversations. “I think they're important to everybody and for the industry as a whole to see beyond the status quo.” 

“Workforce development is my passion, and mental health awareness definitely comes into play...it is a very difficult topic to find help on,” Christee adds.  

Mandy got involved with Mental Health First Aid after being personally affected by a member of her staff committing suicide.  

“I remember the last time I talked to him, I said, ’Please take care of yourself. I never want to get the phone call that you're dead.’ And six months later, I got that phone call. And it was really hard for me, personally, because I was like, ’What more could I have done?’” says Mandy.  “So, I started researching mental health.  I got certified in Mental Health First Aid. And literally, a month after I got that done, I had someone come up to me that said, ’We're having suicidal thoughts,’ and they were struggling, but I had the tools and I knew what to do. And now, he and I are working together on a path to get him some help, some treatment.” 

Christee similarly has experience with suicide in the workplace. She had an employee who was really struggling with their mental health. “He went home for a little while because of some more health issues, and we got the call that he had taken his own life and it was devastating to everyone,” says Christee. “They become like family to us. Trying to define the tools to help our employees was very difficult.” 

It is true that we often don’t talk about uncomfortable issues like mental health or suicidal thoughts until it’s too late. It is more important than ever to find tools and resources that we can use to help us better support ourselves and other because the truth of the matter is statistically someone on your crew is probably struggling right now. It cannot be stated enough how important it is to have these conversations. 

Although talking about suicide and mental health is a serious topic, there is a lot of hope to be gained from focusing on mental health of employees and making improvements to company culture. Together we can prevent suicide and create a better safety program for all employees. 

Watch the entire Coffee Conversations to learn more about suicide prevention and for tips and tools on what your company can do to better support the mental health of your employees.