SUPPORTING YOUR SAFETY


Mental Health Awareness Month Stand Down Unites Industry


BY ERICA BERARDI


O


n May 19, the Associated General Contractors of California, along with Teichert Inc., Operating


Engineers Local 3, and Loyalty Point Leadership, held a Mental Health Awareness Stand Down to call on the construction industry to recognize the importance of mental health for worker’s safety and well-being. “Our workforce is experiencing some of the highest rates of mental health issues, including substance misuse dis- orders and suicide, of any industry,” said Peter Tateishi, AGC of California chief executive officer. “AGC of California and our members can play a vital role in initiating the conversation about the importance of mental health at work, and we offer resources for employers


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CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTOR JULY/AUGUST 2023


and workers about how to incorporate wellness of the whole worker into our daily safety routines.” Te stand down took place at the San Benito Route 156 Improvement Project in San Juan Bautista, California, in recogni- tion of May as Mental Health Awareness Month. Teichert halted construction for one hour as speakers explained how to recognize the signs and symptoms of sub- stance abuse and mental health disorders and what resources are available for help. “Our safety program was established


by Henry Teichert in 1959, 11 years before OSHA was founded, and we are commit- ted to our tradition of building trust with our customers, our employees, and the broader community that is a stakeholder in everything we do,” said Mary Teichert,


president of Teichert, a Sacramento based construction company founded in 1887. “We are continuing to expand and deep- en the array of training and support we have for mental health in our ranks and are honored to be part of our industry’s efforts to develop and communicate a richer body of knowledge in this area than was historically available.” Patrick Nelson, a U.S. Army veteran and chief executive officer of Loyalty Point Leadership, which develops leadership programs for clients from fortune 500 companies to small businesses, spoke about his personal experience. “I’ve found that the mental health


challenges that are impacting the con- struction industry are not all that different from the challenges that I’ve faced as a


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