Buddy Up Skills Training
Centre for Suicide Prevention has partnered with CSV Midstream Solutions Corp. to implement a new suicide prevention program for on-site workers involved in the construction of CSV’s Albright Gas Processing Plant. Buddy Up Skills Training equips workers to skillfully respond to co-workers who are struggling with their mental health or may be considering suicide.
If you’re interested in implementing the Buddy Up Skills Training in your company, contact Akash Asif, Centre for Suicide Prevention’s Strategy and Operations Director at [email protected].
By introducing suicide prevention skills training, modelled after Australia’s MATES in Construction program, CSV strives to create shared value by enhancing workers’ safety and wellbeing throughout the job site. The program is the first of its kind to launch in Canada and will benefit hundreds of construction workers ahead of the Plant’s scheduled startup in late 2024.
Through Buddy Up, all on-site workers will receive basic suicide prevention training and are invited and encouraged to pursue more comprehensive training in the form of half day and 2-day workshops. CSV hopes the program will contribute to reducing stigma associated with mental health, both in Alberta’s Oil and Gas industry and its broader community.
Akash Asif, Centre for Suicide Prevention’s Operations and Strategy Director, adds, “we spend more than 60% of our waking hours at work, allowing us to develop relationships with our co-workers and recognize when someone’s behaviour has changed. Fostering a support system that reduces stigma and encourages everyone to play a role in suicide prevention is essential to creating a healthy work environment.”
This initiative is part of Buddy Up, a suicide prevention campaign for men, by men.