Trigger warning: #suicide #suicideawareness
An average of 687 skilled trade workers died by suicide each year between 2019-2021, according to the latest government data. In 2021, tradespeople accounted for 15% of suicides across all industries, which is more than any other occupation.
4 in 5 tradespeople experience mental health issues due to their job
68% experience work-related stress at least once a month
Those who are between 18 and 24 years old are the most likely to face these challenges
Cost of Living crisis is the number one concern, with almost two in five (39%) saying it's a major cause of stress.
Almost two in five (39%) workers are now doing extra shifts as a result, risking burnout, and more than a fifth (21%) say the situation has made their mental health worse.
Job security is on the mind of young tradespeople, with almost a quarter of Gen Z workers (18-24, 24%) not feeling confident about their employment. This young generation is more than twice as likely as their older colleagues to be worried about job security (7% of over 55s).
This is what we are living with.
There is no hiding from this.
We are losing people when we can help prevent this.
By undertaking training, awareness, we can learn how to spot signs and symptoms, we can also learn how to have these conversations that we are so fearful of having, we can also bust the myths around suicide and learn that if I ask clearly, openly and directly if someone is having suicidal thoughts, I WILL NOT make that person think of or more about the act itself.
There are so many resources available now, so many amazing people that can help with awareness to build a more mentally healthy workplace (and life).
Contact me for anything around suicide, we run accredited and unaccredited courses and work in prevention, postvention.
For me, the best, and I mean BEST thing I ever do is have a conversation with someone around suicidal thoughts, that really feeds my purpose, it is such a positive thing to do and it can be real help.
Suicidal thoughts are quite common, they are all part of this thing we call 'normal'!
Any questions, please contact me anytime, this is what we do.