Suicide in the Workplace: Prevention Opportunities

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan State University
• Description:
  From 2001-2018, 196 Michigan workers died due to a self-inflicted injury while at work. Over the 18 years, work-related suicides were the cause of 7.8% of all work-related deaths and the 6th leading cause of death (Figure 1), although in 2011 and 2013, they were the third leading cause of death. From 2001-2018, the largest number of work-related suicides occurred in Manufacturing and Agriculture; each had 24 suicide deaths, then Retail Trade with 22, Construction with 21 and Other Services with 19 deaths. Figure 2 shows work-related suicides by year. Of the 196 suicide deaths, 34.7% were the owner of the business. A self-inflicted gunshot wound was the most common method of a work-related suicide (104 deaths, 53.0%), followed by asphyxiation, which included hanging and chemical asphyxiation (74 deaths, 37.8%) (Figure 3). Suicides occurred most frequently among individuals ages 45-54 (52 deaths, 26.5%), followed by individuals aged 35-44 (47 deaths, 24.0%), then 55- 64 (38 deaths, 19.4%) (Figure 4). The average age of death in Retail Trade was 36.6 years, which was younger than the average in other top industries, which were in the 45-54 age range. Psychological health and safety should be an integral part of all organizations. It is important that a work environment values its employees and their families, fosters communication, a sense of belonging, respect, encourages individuals to seek help when they need it and to support each other, and actively works to prevent harm to a worker's mental/psychological health. Employer efforts to create a psychologically healthy workplace should be integrated into an existing health and safety management plan. Workplaces with a positive approach to psychological health and safety are better able to recruit and retain talent, have improved employee engagement, enhanced productivity, are more creative and innovative, and have higher profit levels. Other positive impacts include a reduction of several key workplace issues including the risk of conflict, grievances, turnover, disability, injury rates, absenteeism and performance, or morale problems. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Preventive Medicine Safety Suicide Workplace
• Keywords:
  Hazards Mental Health Preventive Measures Psychological Responses Work Environment
• Publisher:
  Michigan State University
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Lay Publication
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066673
• Citation:
  East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 2020 Sep; :1-4
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Suicide in the workplace: prevention opportunities
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ae8d234cd6846b25cd72352b59581808938cbb376f9ae2ddb1647f80761352e7dbcd92530e31b36eafa3ba3a0901bd18f22e10267b28e19c68f68dacaba65ccf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230952/cdc_230952_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 539.84 KB ]