ONE Victorian construction worker commits suicide each month
My dad was an A Grade electrician, had his own business back in the late 50’s and early 60’s.
Nowadays being a tradesperson with a license can create good income, here is a story researched by the Herald Sun’s Brigid O’Connell and appeared Th 11th Oct 2018 on pg. 7 which talks about the downside.
In my mid 30’s I read some books that really got me thinking about the sorts of ways we create our incomes, these books affected my thinking greatly. One was called the e Myth by Michael Gerber and the other was The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki.
My dad said to me once, “it’s easier to draw a hole than dig a hole”. Simple words, but when you think about it, that’s what I call leveraged thinking.
Anyway here’s the article by Brigid.
Suicide crisis hits tradies
BRIGID O’CONNELL
ONE Victorian construction worker commits suicide each month, new data reveals, prompting the launch of a program to train tradies in mental health first-aid on all worksites.
Long working days and clocking on at odd hours, strict construction deadlines amid a statewide building boom, job instability and a lack of control about the working day are some of the pressures that construction industry leaders say may add to the complex mix of personal and psychological issues that lead to self-harm.
Suicides in the commercial construction industry — which makes up about 40 per cent of the state construction workforce — have gone from two a year in 2016-2017, to one every 40 days over the last financial year, and one every 30 days already this year.
The deaths were reported to the industry’s insurance and counselling provider, Incolink.
The trend mirrors the national increase in the suicide rate, with Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting this month the rate had hit a 10-year high, with 3128 people — or more than eight a day — taking their own life in Australia last year.
Incolink will today launch the Bluehats program, which will see specially trained tradies and managers appearing on construction sites in blue hard hats to lend an ear to stressed colleagues and direct them to professional support.
FOR SUPPORT, PHONE LIFELINE ON 131 114 OR THE SUICIDE CALLBACK SERVICE ON 1300 659 467