In 2023—a mere 30 years after TAG began training the nation’s largest employers how to prevent employee suicide—OSHA has begun to notice the issue. OSHA recently released a new suicide prevention poster and on September 7th announced a new initiative to promote employee mental health and suicide prevention. On September 30th, the Wall Street Journal highlighted the issue in an article that mentioned high profile workplace suicides this year by Thomas Lee in New York, NY, at Wells Fargo in Wilmington, DE, at Google in New York, NY, and at an airport in San Antonio, TX, and earlier cases at JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

Suicide and other mental health issues loom large in the lives of a growing proportion of employees as the tolls of the pandemic and uncertainties in the political and economic landscapes create a heavier burden of anxiety and depression among employees and their families.

Moreover, suicide and poor employee mental health have huge costs for employers. The grief of a suicide permeates company-wide and affects morale, retention, workplace satisfaction, employee productivity, and perceptions of safety. In 2020, it was reported that the average suicide in the United States cost $1.3M USD.

Over the last few years, the world has watched as Activision Blizzard, Kroger, and Toyota were sued for employee suicides, as we’d long predicted. Although the legal theories differ from one nation to the next, there are human, organizational, and financial reasons that no employer should be blind to suicide prevention, regardless of the stance of regulatory agencies.

Spare your company the heartache and losses caused by poor mental health and employee suicide. TAG offers in-person, virtual, and e-learning lessons for employees and managers about suicide and mental health issues and will soon announce new tools to encourage employees to report their concerns.

For copies of the latest OSHA materials or to learn how TAG can help protect your employees, contact Cathy Chambers at cathy@taginc.com.

Preventing Employee Suicide

Suicide and other mental health issues loom large in the lives of a growing proportion of employees as the tolls of the pandemic and uncertainties in the political and economic landscapes create a heavier burden of anxiety and depression among employees and their families.