Mental health culture change requires executive support, trusted field champions, and sustained industry leadership.
Every construction leader knows culture does not change because of one meeting.
It changes because people keep showing up. They keep saying the thing that matters. They keep making the expectation visible. They keep building it into training, field conversations, leadership decisions, and daily practice.
That is especially true when the issue is mental health.
In a conversation with the Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance, Tom McCrossan raised one of the most important questions facing the industry: how do we keep this work from fading?
Mental health in construction is getting more attention. More companies are sharing resources. More safety teams are talking about suicide prevention. More leaders are acknowledging that the old silence around this issue has hurt too many people.
But attention is not the same as lasting change.
Lasting change requires people who carry the work.
Leadership support matters, but it is not enough
Tom was clear that leaders have to support this work. Owners, executives, commissioners, agency leaders, labor leaders, and association leaders all influence whether the issue is taken seriously.
But he also named a practical truth: if no one inside the system is actively driving it, the work can stall.
“I can talk about it,” Tom said. “I’m committed to it. But without somebody like Brittney doing this kind of work, this thing doesn’t go. It just stops. It falls out.”
That is a leadership lesson for the entire industry.
Mental health work cannot live only at the executive level. It needs ownership there, but it also needs champions closer to the field — people who are trusted, present, practical, and willing to keep the conversation alive after the first wave of attention passes.
At C. S. McCrossan, Brittney May, safety coordinator, is one of those people.
She spends much of her time on jobsites. She knows the crews. She conducts incident investigations, site inspections, training, claims support, and safety follow-up. She also sees workers as people with families, kids, stories, stressors, and lives beyond the job.
That relational trust matters.
Tom noted that workers may sometimes gravitate toward someone like Brittney differently than they would toward an owner or a longtime veteran in the field. Brittney also noted that ownership showing up matters, too.
“I think ownership does a good job of showing face,” Brittney said. “The guys know Tom. They see him. I think it takes away that intimidation factor.”
That combination is important: visible senior leadership and trusted field-level champions.
One without the other is not enough.
The next generation is watching
Mental health is a safety issue. It is also a workforce issue.
Brittney connected the work directly to recruiting and retention, especially among younger workers.
“I think having a construction company that prioritizes wellbeing and mental health is going to make it easier to hire younger generations,” she said. “Hopefully, it helps keep the trades going.”
That is a critical point for an industry facing long-term workforce pressure.
Young workers are not necessarily unwilling to work hard. But many are looking for employers who understand that people have bodies, families, limits, and lives outside the job. They are paying attention to whether companies still operate only under the old model: show up, work long hours, go home, and deal with the rest yourself.
Tom understands that tension honestly.
He reflected on his own early years in the industry, when weekends, holidays, and long hours were simply expected. He talked about working Saturdays, Sundays, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, and returning to work the Monday after his wedding.
“That’s not to say that’s the right way to do things today,” Tom said. “People need support in their lives. And however we can help with that, we can do that.”
That is not a rejection of the industry’s work ethic. It is an evolution of it.
The construction industry can honor the people who built its past while also recognizing that today’s workforce needs a different kind of leadership.
Culture change is not “soft”
Some leaders may still wonder whether this work belongs in construction.
Tom named that barrier directly. There are still companies and leaders who may say, “We’re here to work. We don’t have time for all this stuff.”
His response was direct.
“If we don’t pay attention to this, we’re going to hurt a lot of people,” Tom said.
That is why the Alliance matters.
The Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance is not asking leaders to add another disconnected initiative to an already full plate. It is building a statewide structure for industry-wide change: leadership alignment, Action Groups, shared tools, funding, policy and procedural development, communications, and long-term coordination.
That kind of infrastructure matters because no one company can solve this alone.
Construction mental health is shaped by owners, contractors, unions, public agencies, associations, healthcare partners, benefit structures, project schedules, contracts, and culture. The Alliance creates a place where the people who influence those systems can work together.
A call for leaders who will carry the work
If you are a leader in Minnesota construction, this is the invitation.
Do not wait for someone else to carry the culture.
If your company has experience, share it.
If your organization has influence, use it.
If you can fund the work, invest in it.
If you can serve on a committee, step in.
If you can bring another leader to the table, invite them.
If you can sign The Commitment, sign it.
If you can help build practical tools, join an Action Group.
The Alliance needs owners, contractors, labor leaders, project executives, safety professionals, healthcare partners, public agencies, funders, and donors who understand that this is not a moment. It is a movement.
Mental health in construction will not become a safety standard because people care once.
It will become a safety standard because enough leaders carry it long enough for the culture to change.
Get involved with the Alliance.
Join an Action Group, invest in the work, donate, sign The Commitment, or share the Alliance with another industry leader.
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.