A recent Asphalt Pro article discusses mental health and suicide prevention efforts in Oregon.
Cal Beyer is the vice president of workforce risk & mental wellbeing for CSDZ, a construction risk management firm.
John Hickey is the executive director of the Asphalt Pavement Association of Oregon (APAO).
CAL BEYER: I remember when APAO first started thinking about mental health and suicide prevention. John would you talk about your perspective on how APAO got started on the topics?
JOHN HICKEY: APAO’s mental health and wellness efforts started soon after we elevated the importance of worker safety to a core principle. APAO historically focused on asphalt pavement mixtures, training, and providing technical resources to engineers and contractors. About six years ago we noticed that increased traffic on our roads required performing more paving at night. Although traffic volume is less at night, people drive faster and there are more instances of impaired driving. Distracted driving was also increasing and causing accidents at an alarming rate. The Oregon paving industry grew frustrated at increasing worker injuries and deaths. As a result, APAO leadership expanded our focus to including roadway work zone safety.
Click here for their full discussion in an article from AsphaltPro magazine.
Western/Pacific Smooth Ride Sentinel 