Construction workers four times more likely to die by suicide as 7,000 lives lost, report says
Construction workers are four times more likely to die by suicide than the national average, making it one of the deadliest professions for mental health problems in the UK, according to a new report.
Social media company On The Tools, the UK’s largest community of tradespeople, has found that 73% of the country’s 2.1 million construction workers have been affected by mental illness.
In the last decade, 7,000 have taken their own lives.
“If doctors or teachers were seeing those rates of suicide in any other industry, I think there would be a national outcry”, said Alice Brookes, the company’s brand manager.
“But because it’s construction, I think people don’t necessarily have the best perception of tradespeople, it’s being ignored.
‘These suicide rates in any other industry would cause a national outcry,’ says Alice Brookes
“When four times the number of people are dying by suicide – who will build our hospitals, who will build our schools, maintain our roads and infrastructure?”
The company is trying to raise £2.5m to fund counselling for workers in the industry.
James Reeves, 33, who runs Royal Spa Decoration in Leamington Spa, told Sky News how he had contemplated suicide after suffering injuries to his back and pelvis in an accident while painting and decorating, then had his tools, worth £2,500 stolen.
‘For a long time taking my own life consumed my every waking thought’
Mr Reeves injured his back and pelvis in an accident while painting and decorating
“One of the worst pressures was financial”, James explained.
“I had guys working for me on payroll, I had to earn a certain amount to make a profit every month, you can imagine if you’re off work for three months and unable to meet those numbers, meet those deadlines it doesn’t take long before you find yourself in a hole financially.
“For me personally I just felt like a failure to everyone around me and the only way out was to kind of disappear.”
James continued: “For a long time taking my own life consumed my every waking thought and for a long time I woke up thinking that was going to be the day I took my own life. It did take quite a while to get out of that place, but I was lucky in that I got out, whereas a lot of other people aren’t that fortunate.”
The report also found that work absences related to mental illness are costing the industry £2.7bn a year.
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Ms Brookes added: “When you start factoring in isolation – a lot of workers in this industry lone work or are self-employed and there is that feeling of isolation and loneliness.
“Then you add financial pressures, then industry pressures such as tool theft – we found 68% of tradespeople worry daily about tool theft which shows those wider pressures are affecting those in the trade.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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