Mental health belongs inside construction safety culture.
Construction leaders know what it takes to build a safety culture.
It takes repetition. Training. Accountability. Field presence. Supervisor buy-in. Clear expectations. A willingness to identify hazards before someone gets hurt.
The next question for the industry is whether that same discipline can be applied to mental health.
For C. S. McCrossan, a family-owned highway and heavy civil contractor with deep Minnesota roots, that work is already happening. The company is approaching mental health by asking: what would it look like for mental wellbeing to become part of safety itself?
That question matters because the construction industry continues to face one of the highest suicide risks of any major industry. In 2021, the CDC reported that men in the construction industry had a suicide rate of 56.0 per 100,000, and men in construction and extraction occupations had a rate of 65.6 per 100,000. Minnesota has also elevated the issue through state-level suicide data and reporting focused on male construction workers.
For leaders, the conclusion is clear: mental health can no longer sit outside the safety conversation.
Safety as a moral obligation
Tom McCrossan traces C. S. McCrossan’s safety culture back to the company’s family roots.
“Charles really drove safety in the company,” Tom said, referring to his father and company founder, Charles “Charley” McCrossan. “He wanted to keep the people safe.”
That belief grew with the company. Tom described safety not only as a policy or program, but as a responsibility to everyone touched by the work: employees, project owners, the traveling public, and the broader community.
“For us, it’s the moral obligation of ensuring that the people we work with are kept safe,” Tom said.
That kind of statement matters because it widens the frame. Safety is not only about avoiding incidents. It is about how leaders think about people.
And like all strong safety cultures, C. S. McCrossan’s has evolved over time.
Tom reflected on how construction safety used to look different. There were fewer formal safety roles, fewer structured meetings, less protective equipment, and less recognition of hazards that today would be obvious. As safety professionals became part of the company and the industry, they helped identify risks and make safer practices part of the work.
“Safety is an always evolving thing,” Tom said. “We’re never quite there.”
That may be the most important line for industry leaders to hear.
If safety is a living thing, then it has to keep expanding as the industry learns more. Mental health is part of that evolution.
Making mental health part of the everyday system
Brittney May, safety coordinator at C. S. McCrossan, sees that evolution happening in real time.
Brittney joined C. S. McCrossan as an intern in fall 2024 and was later hired full time. With a background in exercise science, psychology, and environmental health and safety, she brings a perspective that naturally connects the body, the mind, and the realities of field work.
For her, the mental health conversation is personal.
“I’ve lost two friends to suicide,” Brittney said. “And the connections I’ve made with the crews make this feel personal. They’re not just employees. They’re people. They’re individuals. I know their kids. I know their stories.”
That field-level trust is exactly where mental health work becomes real.
Brittney described C. S. McCrossan’s approach as a series of practical steps: mental health resources in onboarding, toolbox talks, jobsite posters, hard hat stickers with QR codes, supervisor awareness training, and outside training support through Ray Stenglein’s Hard Hat Courage-related work.
The goal is not to turn every supervisor into a therapist. It is to make resources visible, normalize the conversation, and give workers and leaders the tools to notice when someone may need help.
One example shows the reach of that approach. After mental health training and resource sharing, an employee used what he learned to respond when his daughter was experiencing a suicide crisis.
“That’s what’s really important about this,” Tom said. “This isn’t just about the folks we work with. It’s about their families, too.”
That is a powerful reminder for leaders. Mental health resources introduced at work may be used at home. Training offered on the jobsite may help someone support a spouse, child, friend, coworker, or neighbor.
When companies make mental health part of safety, the impact extends beyond the project.
From awareness to integration
S. McCrossan is still developing its approach, but Brittney described it in four practical stages:
- Awareness and culture change
- Training and leadership development
- Support and resources
- Systemic integration
The fourth stage is where the work becomes truly cultural.
Brittney described systemic integration this way: “It’s not something we have to keep pushing toward. It just becomes part of the company.”
She compared it to physical safety. Workers know to tie off at six feet. They know the basic expectations because those expectations have become part of muscle memory. The opportunity now is to make mental health and overall wellbeing feel just as normal.
Eventually, Brittney said, workers should be asking themselves: Am I in the right headspace for the day? Am I taking care of my body? Am I prepared for the financial realities of the off-season?
That is what the Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance means by systemic change.
It is not only awareness. It is not only a resource list. It is the work of embedding mental health into the way the industry plans, leads, trains, communicates, funds, and measures safety.
A call to leaders
The Alliance is asking leaders across Minnesota construction to help make mental health a construction safety standard.
That includes contractors, owners, labor leaders, project executives, public agencies, funders, donors, and associations. It includes the leaders who can influence policies, contracts, workforce training, jobsite expectations, and company culture.
S. McCrossan’s example does not suggest that every company needs to do everything at once. It shows that leaders can start by expanding what already exists.
Start with onboarding.
Start with toolbox talks.
Start with supervisor training.
Start with QR-coded resources.
Start with making 988 visible.
Start with talking about mental health as part of safety, not separate from it.
And then keep going.
Because safety is a living thing.
And the industry is not done yet.
Get involved with the Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance and help make mental health part of construction safety across Minnesota.
Visit the Get Involved page to sign The Commitment, join an Action Group, support the work, or bring another industry leader into the conversation.
Get Involved | Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance
If you or someone you know needs immediate support, call or text 988.
Sources:
Interview transcript with Tom McCrossan and Brittney May, C. S. McCrossan, conducted by Cheri Quinn for the Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance. This supports the interview quotes, C.S. McCrossan examples, mental health training references, onsite physical therapy discussion, financial wellness planning, and leadership/culture themes.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Suicide Rates by Industry and Occupation — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2021. The CDC reported elevated suicide rates among men in construction and construction/extraction occupations.
Minnesota Department of Health, Suicide Data and Reports. MDH lists Minnesota suicide data resources, including its report on male farmers and construction workers using Minnesota Violent Death Reporting System data from 2015–2021.
NIOSH, Critical Steps Your Workplace Can Take Today to Prevent Suicide. This supports the workplace role in suicide prevention, supervisor and coworker awareness, psychological safety, and Total Worker Health framing.
- S. McCrossan, Our History, Safety Commitment, and Careers. These sources support company history, core values, safety commitment, services, and recruiting language.
Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance, Get Involved, The Commitment, Donate Now, and About. These sources support the Alliance CTAs, systemic change framing, investment language, Action Groups, and the goal of making mental health a construction safety standard in Minnesota.