Construction workers six times more likely to die by suicide than in workplace accidents
The World Today  By Rachael Brown

Posted Fri at 3:31pm


MATES in Construction also said suicide and suicidal behaviour cost the industry more than $1.5 billion a year.

It is calling for prevention programs to be rolled out on every construction site in Australia.

When Justin Geange faced losing his plumbing job of 20 years, he could only see one way out for his family's security.

"As a bloke you don't tend to talk to too many people about failing," he said.

"I thought the best thing I could do to support my family in the future was to take my life and activate my life insurance."

After his suicide attempt, Mr Geange woke up form a coma in hospital angry that, in his eyes, he had failed again.

"What I didn't realise was that so many mates in the industry that were doing it tough," he said.

"Like when I was in hospital I got visits from all these guys that had I had no idea were in ... the same headspace.

"So many guys doing it tough, but we just don't talk about it."

Mr Geange said his wife and family were furious with him.

"A lot of anger there," he said.

"You get a lot of people saying you're selfish and all that but it's like sitting in the picture theatre when you're in the front row, you don't really see the big picture, the full picture when you're right in the heart of that depression.

"All I could see was my girls needed to be funded for the rest of their lives. That would make them happy.

"But I'm pretty glad I'm still here because every day they make me smile and I squeeze them a bit tighter and hold them a bit longer."

Construction workers not as tough as people think

MATES in Construction chief executive Jorgen Gullestrup said suicide and suicidal behaviour in the construction industry was both a huge social and financial burden.

"The cost to the Australian community is over $1.5 billion per year, because of course it's not only the people who die by suicide and the trauma for the people left behind but it's also the people who attempt suicide who end up with a permanent disability as a result of it," he said.

Mr Gullestrup said he would like to see suicide prevention initiatives set up at construction sites across the country.

"We need to have peer support programs in place where constructions workers are aware of what it looks like when a mate is dropping a bit and can ask the question, 'Are you OK?'" he said.

Mr Gullestrup said a program running in Queensland had made great inroads.

"Preliminary research we have done in Queensland have shown that over the first five years of the program, suicide rates dropped by 7.8 per cent," he said.

Mr Geange said while construction workers were thought of as tough, a lot of people were hurting.

He said he was happy cultural change within the industry had begun and wanted to help spread the message that it is OK to speak up.

"[We need] for people to get stuff off their chest and not have to wait until that critical moment where they make a decision that changes their whole community," he said.

bogarde73 wrote on Nov 22^nd, 2015 at 2:02pm:


Replaced by suicide compensation with disease titled industrial dysentery. Work gave them the sh1ts.

This story exemplifies one of the big problems with high paying resource jobs. The worker becomes addicted to the high remuneration and adjusts his lifestyle upwards to reflect the income level. When the job is terminated the worker feels he has been discarded and faces lower pay jobs and economic distress.

The second problem is that workers may not leave a high pay job they don't like because of addiction to the money. So they keep working the job and suffer mental problems caused by dislike of their job.

Billy Jack wrote on Nov 22^nd, 2015 at 3:15pm:


Billy, if you didn't exist a team of mad scientists would have to capture a furtive fart and wrap a persona around it and create the Billy Jack simulacrum.

Billy Jack wrote on Nov 22^nd, 2015 at 5:48pm:


Billy, have you considered a FIFO job in the construction sector?