Sheet Metal Workers Take Action to Lessen Suicide Rate among Ranks

Last November, the CDC released a study showing that from 2012 to 2015, males in construction and extraction workers have the highest rate of suicide in the United States. Categorized in that group are the sheet metal workers which, as an organization, has been focusing on bucking the trend and educating membership through a program aimed at not only challenging trends but decades of stereotypes.

The Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust, the safety arm of the unionized sheet metal, air conditioning and welding industry, and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation workers, took notice of the upward trend more than five years ago and created the SMART Members Assistance Program. SMART MAP trains leaders in local unions and training centers across the country to spot the signs and provide compassion and empathy, as well as help those members find help before they can take their own lives.

To date, the program has trained more than 400 members across the country in hopes of decreasing the rate of suicide in its ranks.

Males in construction typically have access to tools, heights and weapons in addition to dealing with pressures of family and career in an environment that increasingly encourages them to “be a man.” SMART MAP is teaching members the opposite – compassion, sharing and understanding – which is more about being human than conforming to past ideologies.

The program also educates members on addiction and mental health to chip away at stigmas.

For more info, visit https://www.smohit.org/ or https://www.smohit.org/services/smartmap/.