ER40 Suicide in New Zealand's construction industry workforce: Factors identified in coronial reports (May 2019)

This report presents the results of a study that analysed the content of coronial reports for suicides in the New Zealand construction industry through the lens of factors drawn from the wider suicide research literature.

This study analysed the content of 300 coroners’ closed case files of construction workers in New Zealand who died by suicide between 2007 and 2017. This data source was chosen because it is a rich source of information about the circumstances surrounding a suicide. However, the variability of coronial reporting methods meant that testing for causation or correlation was not possible. The analysis was therefore limited to a description of factors found in the reports.

The results support the view that there are a multitude of factors that contribute to suicide risk for construction industry workers. The findings provide some new details about these factors, especially work-related ones.

Job insecurity or uncertainty and work-related stress stood out in coronial reports, particularly for self-employed contractors and business owners. Injury or illness impacting on someone’s capacity to work also featured.