SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A silent crisis is unfolding within the construction industry, where suicide and mental health struggles have reached alarming levels.
The issue gained attention after a recent Utah Construction Licensing Board meeting revealed widespread concern and is backed up by data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing construction has the second-highest suicide rate of any occupation in the nation, behind only mining.
Now, industry leaders, survivors, and a Utah university research team are stepping forward to confront the problem head-on.
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Scott Martin, founder of Surviving Life’s Pickles, has lived the crisis personally.
“March of 2024, I had my personal suicide attempt. Luckily, I’m here today and survived that,” Martin said. “During that time, as I was getting treatment, I lost another coworker to suicide, and I also lost another friend.”
Martin, whose family has worked in construction for generations, said the industry’s culture makes it difficult for workers to speak openly.
“Nobody wants to deal with it; nobody knows how to deal with it,” he said. “And when you’re at a job site a lot of the time you are by yourself.”
For Tyler Nerdin, owner of Mountain Man Plumbing, the nonstop pressure and lack of work-life balance drove him to leave the industry altogether.
“Towards the end of my career in construction, weekends were considered mandatory workdays,” Nerdin said. “It was difficult to separate your work from your personal life.”
The numbers reflect their stories. The suicide rate among construction workers is 75% higher than the national average — and five times higher than the number of workers killed in job-site accidents each year.
Martin believes communication remains one of the biggest barriers.
“People don’t know how to talk about it. I don’t think it’s that they don’t want to — it’s they don’t know,” he said.
Some employers are confronting the issue directly, including Slade Opheikens, President of R&O Construction.
“I have depression, I have anxiety,” Opheikens said. “I started to hear it so much, especially with a certain generation, that I thought: Is this how people are now identifying or is it what they are struggling with? Having not struggled with it, I was misjudging — that was wrong.”
Opheikens soon learned that even when employees ask for help, it can take months to access professional care.
“Getting the right help has a waiting list of like three months — and that’s too long,” he said.
With support from the Associated General Contractors of Utah (AGC of Utah), construction companies are now collaborating to share mental-health resources and best practices.
“Sharing all the good makes us all better — and that’s the same with mental health,” Opheikens said.
The next step, he believes, is cultural change.
“We as managers can set realistic deadlines,” he said. “Not commit to deadlines on projects that make everybody give up their home life.”
While construction companies work on the front lines, Brigham Young University researchers are taking a long-term approach.
James Smith, an associate professor at BYU, is leading a nationwide study into construction-worker mental health — a topic he said has been understudied for years.
“It’s not something that has gotten a ton of academic attention,” Smith said.
When asked whether construction is behind other industries in addressing mental well-being, his answer was direct: “I would say yes the lack of female involvement comparatively, I think, hinders us. That’s a theory I have.”
Smith and his team are gathering data, exploring cultural contributors, and testing theories. But he cautions that finding concrete solutions will take years.
The study is nearly two years old and is currently seeking long-term external funding that could sustain it for the next 20 years.
For Martin, sharing his story is a way to prevent others from facing the same pain.
“I feel like I’ve taken that pain and we’ve turned it into a real good purpose,” he said.
But everyone involved agrees that much more work remains.
AGC of Utah launched a statewide Mental Health Summit and established a centralized mental-health support hub to help workers and employers navigate resources and training.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, crisis support and resources are available.
Dial 988 for the 24/7 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or visit Utah 211 for a comprehensive list of resources. You can also find immediate help through the SafeUT Crisis Chat and Tip Line.
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