Boom Goes The Stigma

Welcome to Boom Goes The Stigma! BGTS is a production of the Construction Suicide Prevention Partnership (CSPP). According to the CDC, the construction industry has the second-highest rate of suicide and has one of the highest rates of death from overdoses. Our country loses more construction workers to suicide than to Jobsite injuries or accidents. BGTS is a tool that normalizes and elevates the conversation around mental health. On every episode, guests from within and outside the construction industry discuss critical issues, share stories, and, most importantly, blow up the stigma of talking about mental wellness as a sign of weakness.

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Boom Goes The Stigma

Embedding the Message

September 14, 2022 • Hunter Moen, Anna Klein, Max Margolis, Natalie Cordova

In today’s episode, we had a conversation with Natalie Cordova, Vice President of Construction Risk Practice at Marsh and a Construction Suicide Prevention Partnership (CSPP) Outreach and Engagement Committee Member. We discussed the importance of community, normalizing mental health conversations, and the value of branding and messaging.

1:23 – Summary and Themes of Episode
3:52 – Introduction and Natalie’s background
5:07 – How Natalie got involved in mental health
7:08 – Financial Management approach to mental health (CFMA)
8:30 – Humanizing the construction community
10:18 – Construction Worker Safety
14:13 – Breaking down Stigma in the construction industry
16:25 – Hard Hat Stickers
17:13 – Responding to a loss/Jobsite Impact/Preparedness
18:56 – Team relationships, establishing strong safety culture, incorporating mental health as common practice
23:54 – The function of insurance in Construction
27:54 – Are you seeing insurance claims on mental health?
29:26 – Risk factors and mental health
32:00 – The importance of branding
38:00 – How we can create and inspire change in the industry
42:54 – Credits

If you are in need of support or feeling distressed, you can call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, to speak with a trained crisis intervention specialist.

You can also reach out to the Alcohol & Drug Helpline at 800-923-4357.

To learn more about the CSPP, visit: Construction Suicide Prevention Partnership – reducing suicide and promoting mental well-being in the construction industry (suicide-stops-here.org)

To learn more about Lines For Life, visit: Lines For Life – Preventing Substance Abuse and Suicide, and Promoting Mental Wellness

To support the show, visit our CSPP donation link: Construction Industry Donation (linesforlife.org)

People Referenced:
Sheri Sundstrom – Hoffman Construction
Dwight Holton – CEO at Lines for Life
Judy Cushing – Founder & CEO emeritus of Lines for Life
Cal Beyer – VP of Workforce Risk & Worker Wellbeing for CSDZ

Topics Referenced:
Out of the Darkness Walks (afsp.org)
Marsh | Global Leader in Insurance Broking and Risk Management
CFMA - Construction Financial Management Association
Construction Safety Week 2022
Not Today Hard Hat Stickers - Awareness Campaign: 988 NOT TODAY
Toolbox Talks
Construction Working Minds
Grady Britton • A Creative Branding & Marketing Agency in Portland, OR
The Mates in Construction Suicide Prevention Program (Australia) - https://mates.org.au/
Free downloadable music - Pixabay

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People on this episode