Glass Companies Have the Culture to Address Mental Health

When I was working at Brin Glass in Minneapolis, nobody handed me a pamphlet about mental health. There was no poster in the break room that I remember, no toolbox talk on suicide prevention. But when my brother Trevor died by suicide in 2006—he was 17, I was three years into my career—two coworkers came to me separately and told me they understood. One had lost a brother. One had lost a son. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to help them or if they were helping me. The answer, I’ve since learned, is that it was both. It’s always both. 

That is what this industry is good at. Not programs. Not posters. People showing up for each other. The question is whether we’re willing to build on that. To close the gap between caring about someone and knowing what to do when they’re struggling. 

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Resources 

• Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP) offers free, downloadable toolbox talks and the STAND Up framework, a simple model for recognizing warning signs and starting a conversation. ciasp.net 
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Connects callers with trained counselors. Available 24/7 by call or text. No insurance needed, no cost. Dial or text 988. 
• Construction Working Minds Provides training resources built specifically for managers and supervisors in the trades, focused on recognizing risk and responding without overstepping. constructionworkingminds.org 
• CPWR — The Center for Construction Research and Training Publishes data bulletins and research on mental health trends in construction, including substance use and suicide rates. A go-to source for anyone making the case internally. cpwr.com 

The Numbers We Can’t Ignore 

According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the suicide rate for construction workers is approximately four times the national average. The most recent data from the Center for Construction Research and Training and North America’s Building Trades Unions puts the number at roughly 5,000 construction workers aged 16 to 64 who died by suicide in 2024, at a rate of 41.9 per 100,000. That’s more than four times the number of on-the-job fatalities. Nearly one in five, or 17.9%, of all U.S. suicide deaths where occupation is recorded comes from the construction industry. 

According to a CPWR Data Bulletin, the risk factors read like a description of the requirements for a construction job: physically demanding, injury-prone jobs that drive chronic pain and opioid use. Seasonal employment that creates financial instability. Long, irregular hours that strain families. A predominantly male workforce, nearly 90%, which has a higher baseline suicide risk and a work culture that has historically rewarded toughness over vulnerability. CPWR reports that anxiety among construction workers rose from 12.6% in 2018 to 18.4% in 2024. 

There is a modest but real sign of progress: that 2024 suicide rate actually represents a year-over-year decline of 1.3%, and overdose deaths in construction dropped 28.8% the same year according to CPWR data reported by Construction Dive. 

That suggests that prevention efforts are reaching people. But 5,000 deaths is not a trend line. It’s 5,000 families. Every one of them is someone’s Trevor. 

The Culture Is the Opportunity 

Here is what I keep coming back to after 23 years in glass and glazing: the culture of this industry is not the problem. It’s the opportunity. We show up for each other. We know each other’s families. We work side by side in conditions that require trust. The hearts are there. What’s been missing are the structures, the language, and the permission to talk about hard things out loud. 

When NGA surveyed attendees at our September 2025 Thirsty Thursday webinar on suicide prevention and lived experience, the responses told a clear story. Every single respondent said they were very likely to attend future mental health programming. But only two out of five described themselves as “very aware” of suicide prevention resources at work. Three out of five said their workplace had provided no training or resources related to suicide prevention or substance abuse. One respondent wrote that what’s needed is not more awareness—it’s knowing how to start the conversation and what to say.  

In reality, you don’t have to build a mental health program from scratch. There are many organizations that offer templates, frameworks and even scripts for companies to address employee mental health (see the sidebar for more information). But none of those tools work if the culture doesn’t support them. And culture starts with one person willing to go first. It will be 20 years since I said goodbye to my little brother, and I will never forget the folks who supported me and continue to. 

People ask me what to say. My honest answer: you don’t need a script. You need to be a person. Check on your people, not in a clinical way, in a human way. Ask how someone’s doing and actually wait for the answer. If they tell you they’re struggling, you don’t have to fix it. You just have to not run away from it.