Safety Under the Hard Hat: Understanding Behavioral Health In The Commercial Construction Industry
Date and Time
Wednesday Sep 8, 2021
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
Location
Zoom (information will be emailed upon registration)
Fees/Admission
$25.00 per registration link:
Proceeds to be donated to the Samaritans 5K Run/Walk for Suicide Prevention on September 25, 2021 https://samaritanshope.org/events/5k-run/
Contact Information
Donna Scally
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Description
Sponsored by AGC MA’s Human Resource Committee as part of AGC MA’s Wellness Wednesday initiative.
Approximately one in five adults (almost 45 million people) live with a behavioral health disorder. These struggles, which include mental health challenges and substance misuse, can and do show up on jobsites, negatively impacting teams, productivity, and most importantly, safety.
The commercial construction industry is not immune from these challenges. In fact, death by suicide by construction workers is 4 times the national average, and the industry has been identified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as a high-risk industry for behavioral health concerns.
How can we, as leaders, help? By treating behavioral health risk factors with as much focus, effort, and time as we do physical safety. In this discussion, Lisa K. Desai, Psy.D. and Chief Behavioral Health Officer of MindWise Innovations, will share how commercial construction leaders can:
- Understand common behavioral health struggles in the construction industry, such as anxiety, depression, substance misuse, suicidality, anger, and more.
- Recognize signals of potential behavioral health struggles in their peers and teams, and how they might ‘show up’ on the worksite.
- Respond to these signals empathetically and effectively, which may help mitigate or deescalate crisis situations.
- Connect their teams to available resources, when needed, in a psychologically safe and controlled manner.
Dr. Desai
Dr. Desai has over 25 years of clinical and administrative experience across delivery systems in college counseling, community mental health, hospitals, and private practice. In her current role at MindWise, Dr. Desai leads the development and implementation of behavioral health programs for workplaces and communities, with the goal of building psychologically safe environments and reaching at-risk and underserved populations. She oversees the MindWise behavioral health screening platform and regularly consults with partners across various sectors. Dr. Desai is committed to understanding and addressing specific, contemporary behavioral health needs and working collaboratively to expand access to resources. She enjoys spending time with family and friends and is fluent in Gujarati.