Episode Overview
In this episode, Dr. Vince Hafeli, President of Ajax Paving, shared the urgent reality that fourteen to eighteen construction workers die by suicide every day, a rate far higher than job-site fatalities. Vince discussed his own experience surviving a suicide attempt and how it led him to dedicate his life to mental health advocacy in construction.
He explained why leadership must drive every successful mental health initiative, how companies can use existing benefits to support employees, and how Ajax created a peer-led network called Ajax Warriors to reduce stigma and strengthen connection.
Timestamps:
- 00:00 – The conversation opens with an introduction to Dr. Vince Hafeli and why mental health has become a critical, often overlooked issue in construction.
- 05:01 – Ajax Paving’s 600-employee operation provides context for understanding how leadership decisions impact culture and mental health.
- 11:00 – The construction industry loses 14 – 18 workers to suicide every day, outpacing jobsite fatalities and revealing a crisis hiding in plain sight.
- 13:03 – Dr. Hafeli shares his personal struggle with depression and the experience that turned pain into purpose.
- 15:21 – For mental health initiatives to work, they must be led and sustained by top leadership, not delegated or treated as HR programs.
- 16:43 – Companies are encouraged to start small by using existing mental health benefits and resources already available to employees.
- 26:51 – The conversation turns to the difference between mental health and mental illness, and how confusing the two fuels stigma.
- 30:42 – A story about an employee in crisis highlights the life-changing power of trust and human connection at work.
- 36:03 – Inside Ajax’s “Ajax Warriors” program, a peer-led mental health initiative that trains employees in mental health first aid.
- 42:30 – Dr. Hafeli challenges the industry’s double standard: workers are expected to be honest about physical health, but not mental health.
