Why project owners have a role in construction mental health
When construction leaders talk about safety, the conversation often starts with what can be seen: traffic control, fall protection, equipment, PPE, work zone hazards, jobsite procedures.
But Pat Huston, MnDOT project director and a representative of MnDOT on the Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance Strategy Team, is asking leaders to look at safety through a broader lens.
Not just: Is the work physically safe?
But also: What are the pressures we are building into the project before work ever starts?
For Pat, that question comes from decades of experience in transportation construction. He joined MnDOT District 1 – Duluth in 1990 and has worked across a wide range of roles during his tenure. For the last 10 years, he has led MnDOT District Major Projects Team through the development and construction of the Highway 53 Relocation project in Virginia, the Twin Ports Interchange project in Duluth, and now the Blatnik Reconstruction project.
These are large, complex, high-pressure projects with real impacts on communities, businesses, traffic, emergency access, contractors, labor, and the traveling public.
They are also projects built by people.
That point has become central to Pat’s thinking.
“People build these projects,” he said. “Think about the people building the job.”
The pressure to finish faster has a human cost
In highway heavy construction, speed is often treated as the obvious goal.
Get in. Get out. Reduce disruption. Reopen the road. Finish as quickly as possible.
That pressure is understandable. Road and bridge projects affect daily life. Drivers are delayed. Businesses worry about access. Communities get frustrated. Public agencies hear from residents, elected officials, and business owners. Social media comments often push the same message: Why is this taking so long? Why aren’t crews working around the clock?
But behind every demand to finish faster are people absorbing that pressure.
On the Twin Ports Interchange project, Pat saw the strain of major construction up close. The project included roughly a million labor hours. At peak times, the job looked like an anthill. Workers came from outside Duluth. Many were away from their families. Crews worked long weeks, through winter, with very little time off.
“It’s really hard on people,” Pat said. “You’ve got to be mindful. There’s got to be a balance.”
That balance matters because construction is already one of the industries most affected by mental health and suicide risk. National data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that men in construction and extraction occupations had the highest suicide rate among major occupational groups in the years studied. In Minnesota, the Department of Health now includes a dedicated report on suicide rates among male farmers and construction workers in Minnesota, based on Minnesota Violent Death Reporting System data from 2015–2021.
The issue is not abstract. It is showing up nationally. It is showing up in Minnesota. And it is showing up in the lived experience of construction leaders, workers, families, and project teams.
Owner decisions can either add pressure or relieve it
One of the most important ideas Pat brings to the Alliance is that mental wellbeing is not only an HR issue, a contractor issue, or a field leadership issue.
It is also an owner issue.
Owners influence schedules, incentives, phasing, detours, communication, traffic control, public expectations, and the conditions under which contractors and crews are asked to perform. Those decisions can either increase stress or help create more sustainable ways to build.
On the Blatnik Reconstruction project, MnDOT has to balance many competing needs. The bridge is a critical connection between Duluth and Superior. When the bridge closes, traffic patterns change dramatically. Hospitals, businesses, freight, commuters, and regional mobility are all affected.
That creates pressure to finish quickly.
But as the team developed the project, they also looked at how schedule and incentives could affect the workforce. Pat shared that the contract initially included points tied to early completion. Through conversations with the pursuing contractors, MnDOT heard an important concern: if the incentive was valuable enough, contractors would feel pressure to pursue it to remain competitive. What appears optional on paper can become a requirement in practice.
MnDOT listened.
The team adjusted the approach, built around a more reasonable schedule, scaled back the early completion incentive, made it optional at the tail end, and capped it so it would not become so attractive that the pressure landed on labor.
That is what moving from awareness to action can look like.
It is not always a new program. Sometimes it is a contract decision. A schedule decision. A phasing decision. A decision to ask one more question before finalizing the plan.
A reasonable schedule is not one-size-fits-all
Pat is quick to say there is no simple definition of a reasonable schedule.
Every project is different. Every location, traffic pattern, community impact, funding source, contractor approach, labor condition, weather condition, long day, physical demand, complex piece of equipment and more, creates different constraints. And Minnesota’s short construction season makes this even more complex.
But that is exactly why the question matters.
A reasonable schedule cannot be created by one party in isolation. Owners may understand the public need and project requirements. Contractors understand means, methods, risks, and production realities. Labor understands how hours, travel, layoffs, benefits, and time away from family affect workers. Public agencies understand community pressure. Healthcare and mental health leaders understand the broader prevention picture.
Everybody has part of the answer.
That is why the Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance exists: to bring construction leaders, project owners, public agencies, contractors, labor, healthcare, and industry partners together to identify practical ways to support mental wellbeing and prevent suicide in the construction industry.
As Pat put it, “Everybody’s got to be on the team.”
The practical questions leaders can ask now
For construction leaders and project owners, this work does not have to start with a perfect solution.
It can start with better questions.
Before a project is scoped, bid, or communicated, leaders can ask:
- What pressure are we building into this project schedule?
- Where are we assuming faster is always better?
- Are incentives encouraging outcomes we actually want, or are they creating unintended stress on crews?
- Are there opportunities to reduce unnecessary night work or weekend work?
- Could a detour or different phasing approach get workers out of live traffic?
- Have contractors and labor had a chance to weigh in before decisions are locked?
- How are we communicating with the public about the people behind the work?
- Where could one decision reduce pressure without compromising safety, quality, or public need?
These questions will not produce the same answer on every project. They should not. But they help bring mental wellbeing into the rooms where project conditions are shaped.
That is where systemic change begins.
Safety includes the people doing the work
Construction has made significant progress by making physical safety a leadership priority. Mental wellbeing needs to become part of that same safety culture.
That does not mean making construction sound like a place people should avoid. Pat was clear about the importance of getting the message right. The construction industry needs workers. These are skilled, meaningful, essential careers. The goal is not to scare people away from the trades.
The goal is to show that leaders know the issue exists and are taking action.
That is a stronger message for workers, families, students, owners, and communities.
It says: this industry matters, the work matters, and the people doing the work matter most.
The Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance invites leaders across the industry to help move this conversation from awareness to action. Learn more, access resources, and get involved through the Alliance website.
Get Involved | Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance
Because roads and bridges do not build themselves.
People build them.
And the industry has a responsibility to build in a way that protects them.
Sources:
Pat Huston interview transcript, MN Construction Mental Health Alliance – Insights Call w/ Pat Huston – July 09. This source supports Pat’s comments about project-owner responsibility, Twin Ports Interchange, Blatnik schedule/incentive decisions, public outreach, labor conversations, and the need for collaboration.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Suicide Rates by Major Occupational Group — 17 States, 2012 and 2015. CDC reported that among men, Construction and Extraction had the highest suicide rate among major occupational groups in both 2012 and 2015, and that workplace-based suicide prevention is part of a comprehensive approach.
Minnesota Department of Health, Suicide Data and Reports. MDH lists current Minnesota suicide data resources, including the 2025 data brief and the report on suicide rates among male farmers and construction workers in Minnesota using Minnesota Violent Death Reporting System data from 2015–2021.
Minnesota Department of Health, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. MDH directs Minnesotans to call or text 988 for emotional or mental health support and describes suicide prevention as a public health approach involving state coordination, technical assistance, data, and community-based prevention.