Suicide risk adds to site safety shame

Construction workers are more likely to commit suicide than any other occupational group, according to a recent regional health study.

It shows that 16% of all male suicide victims - 39 out of a total of 220 - in East Kent between January 1995 and December 1999 worked in the construction industry. The five-year study was commissioned by the then East Kent NHS Health Authority.

Union official Brian Rye - soon to take over as UCATT's new Eastern regional secretary - said he will contact other health authorities to establish whether there is a national pattern of a high suicide rate among site workers. He is assisting the health authority in seeking to identify areas of workplace stress.

Rye said the Kent study indicates that most suicides occurred in January, at Easter, and in the summer. He commented: "Has this anything to do with the fact that 70% to 80% of construction workers have never received holiday pay, resulting in no earnings over Christmas, no money after Christmas, and little money coming in after poor winter weather? Add job insecurity and the pressures soon mount."