On May 6th, 2024, the Kansas Consultation Program entered an Alliance to protect workers by addressing mental health, opioid abuse, and suicide prevention. The Alliance was signed by the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Wichita Area Office, Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Kansas and its Kansas Construction Safety Network (KCSN), Mental Health America of South-Central Kansas (MHASCK), and the Kansas Department of Labor Industrial Safety and Health Division (KDOL-ISH) Consultation Program. These organizations are collaborating to provide information, guidance, and access to training resources to address these issues.

This Alliance was two years in the making and will provide the first-ever public-private partnership in Kansas for delivering mental health and job-site safety training to AGC members and the community at large. Allen Vinyard, ISH Division Director and Kansas Consultation Program Manager, said “To be a part of this first-ever Alliance dealing with suicide prevention and opioid addiction is humbling. I hope that in some way we can help someone through training and providing resources.” A key part of this effort was the development of a website that provides toolbox talks in English and Spanish on opioid abuse and mental health. It also includes a video and National and State links for suicide prevention resources.

The role of the Kansas Consultation in this Alliance is to promote, educate, and support efforts to provide information on suicide prevention and opioid addiction to employers and workers. Kansas Consultation has shown the video during the annual Kansas Department of Labor Safety and Health conference and during OSHA 10-hour Construction courses. Kansas Consultation will continue directing employers to the website for information on these topics.

Over 75% of the nearly 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2022 involved an opioid. The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions — with the rate among male construction workers 75% higher than men in the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 6,000 construction workers died by suicide in 2022, an increase from 2021, according to the most recent data available. That compares to around 1,000 who died from a construction work-related injury.

The OSHA On-Site Consultation Program offers no-cost and confidential occupational safety and health services to small and medium-sized businesses in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories, with priority given to high hazard worksites. Consultants from state agencies or universities work with employers to identify workplace hazards and how to fix them, provide advice for compliance with OSHA standards, train and educate workers, and assist in establishing and improving safety and health programs. On-Site Consultation services are separate from OSHA enforcement efforts. To locate the OSHA On-Site Consultation program nearest you, call 800-321-OSHA (6742) or visit https://www.osha.gov/consultation.