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NEW YORK \u2013 The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), North America\u2019s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) and the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR), have announced an expanded collaboration to scale the Hard Hat Courage initiative.<\/p>\n
This means they will align on suicide prevention standards and leverage NABTU\u2019s training infrastructure to \u201creach millions of craft professionals across the construction industry,\u201d explains a release. \u201cThis expanded collaboration will bring consistent, evidence-informed suicide prevention education to even more craft professionals through NABTU\u2019s extensive training and engagement network, which spans three million members.\u201d<\/p>\n
The goal of Hard Hat Courage, which was founded in a partnership between AFSP and Bechtel, is to embed mental health and suicide prevention into everyday jobsite practice because construction continues to face one of the highest suicide risks of any industry.<\/p>\n
In 2023, Bechtel announced a $7 million commitment to AFSP to \u201ccatalyze the initiative and accelerate construction\u2011specific suicide prevention education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through this latest collaboration, AFSP, NABTU and CPWR will work together to:<\/p>\n
\u201cOur members build America. We must also build a culture where it\u2019s standard practice to talk about mental health and take action early,\u201d said Sean McGarvey, president of NABTU, in a statement. \u201cBy recommending baseline standards across our affiliates and beyond, we\u2019re making that expectation clear and consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCommon training criteria rooted in research and jobsite experience will help owners, contractors and unions apply a unified approach to suicide prevention training and evaluate what works in practice,\u201d added Chris Chain, executive director at CPWR.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n