--- title: Addressing mental health and suicide prevention with the Iron Workers description: The America’s Work Force Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. Wayne Creasup II from the Iron Workers Union joined us on today’s show. image: https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/Ironworkers%20red%20mic.jpg --- 1 min read Season 5, Episode 195 # Addressing mental health and suicide prevention with the Iron Workers [ awfblog ](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog) September 30, 2024 [America's Work Force Union Podcast](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/americas-work-force-union-podcast) [AWF](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/awf) [Ironworkers](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/ironworkers) ![AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_IW](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_IW.png?width=400&height=400&name=AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_IW.png)   Guest Name: --- Wayne Creasup II Guest Website: --- [Iron Workers Union](https://www.ironworkers.org/s/)  Guest Social Media: --- [ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/unionironworkers) [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/TheIronworkers) [ YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/UnionIronworkers) [ LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/iron-workers-international/) Supportive Documents: --- On the final day of National Suicide Prevention Month, America’s Work Force Union Podcast welcomed back Wayne Creasup II, Director of Health and Safety for the [International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers](https://www.ironworkers.org/s/). Creasup discussed what the union is doing to address rising suicide rates in the union and the mental health resources available to members. In 2016, there were studies released by the [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)](https://www.bls.gov/) that showed the construction industry had a higher rate of death by suicide compared to the national average. In the construction industry, Ironworkers were near the top of the list. Creasup said that the studies showed that the construction industry was losing nearly 5,000 workers each year to suicide. Creasup discussed several of the triggering events in the construction industry that cause stress and other contributing factors to suicide. He said the industry has taken action to lower the rate of suicides with resources like the [988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline](https://988lifeline.org/). While that helped raise awareness, it wasn’t doing enough, as only about 18 percent of workers know about 988, Creasup said. The Iron Workers and several building trades began providing talks at their conventions and handing out 988 help coins that members could keep with them in case they needed assistance. Among the resources available to building trades members through crisis is a self-assessment through the Iron Workers Union and their Member Assistance Program, IMPACT. Creasup talked about the process a member would go through to take the self-assessment and how it could help a member seek assistance. He recommended visiting the [Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP)](https://www.preventconstructionsuicide.com/) website nationwide, or [2 Tuff 2 Talk](https://2tuff2talk.com/) if you are seeking mental health resources in Northeast Ohio. Listen to the show above to hear more from Creasup about mental health resources and suicide prevention available for people in the trades. --- America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues. America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers. - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ##### SUBSCRIBE ON: --- [![Group 342](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png?width=171&name=Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946) [![Group 341](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Spotify%20Button-Dark.png?width=100&name=Spotify%20Button-Dark.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn) [![Group 343](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20343.png?width=135&name=Group%20343.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast-62567752/) [![Group 339](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20339.png?width=110&name=Group%20339.png)](https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20397.png?width=125&name=Group%20397.png)](https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/YouTube_button.png?width=125&name=YouTube_button.png)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQo1PAtRAel1_tS7-PQOkA)   #### [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) : July 6, 2026 # Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat Brandon Elvey, Secretary-Treasurer of the [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen](https://www.brs.org/),... 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