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Editor’s Note: This story focuses on the topic of mental health and suicide. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
Shandon Harbor views mental health training as any other type of workplace hazard instruction.
As president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors San Diego, Harbor has overseen the launch of mental health and suicide safety training. The program teaches and advocates for awareness and teaches people how to intervene.
This program is not just for member companies, but also for the 700 apprentices studying in the five trade areas with which ABCSD partners, said Harbour, who is also chair of ABC’s National Board of Directors chapters for 2026.
Here, Harbor talks to Construction Dive about the importance of mental health awareness, how it can benefit the emerging workforce, and why prevention training is like CPR.
The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
CONSTRUCTION Immersion: How are you trying to change the way people talk about mental health as part of safety?
Port of Shandon: In construction, we all have to have physical security certifications. It talks about construction fatalities in a very precise way. But the reality is that six times more people die by suicide than by physical risks. So mental health safety is just as important as physical safety, but we don’t do enough to talk about it or integrate it.
What we’re doing now is we’re doing these one-hour sessions. We can talk to the teams and equip them with the signals, the things to look for.
What are some of the signs?
As a culture in the construction industry, guys don’t talk about these things. “Suck it up, Buttercup” is usually the rule of the road. Command and control.
Trades are very hot. Generation Z is called the tool belt generation because they went through school during COVID, they are not interested in going into college debt. The trades are offering them great jobs of professional sustenance and family support.
But if we want to keep them there, we’re going to have to do a better job of focusing on people.
Port of Shandon
Permit granted by Associated Builders and Contractors San Diego
This generation is not a command and control generation. This is an old school build. We have to tap into them and get to know them and try to find out what motivates them.
All this effort, in addition to raising awareness, is really about getting to know your employees and arriving at a different leadership style.
Has awareness improved about focusing on this problem?
This program came to us about two years ago, and our members and our team said, “This is really important.” We wanted to make sure we had this service for our community in San Diego, the small and mid-sized contractors. So yes. I would say that awareness has really come to the fore.
I’ll be brutally honest, it’s not usually received as, “Oh, wow, that’s a great, great idea.” It’s usually a cautious, “What do you want to do?” Because they are things that are not usually talked about, and it is not an easy conversation to have. It takes a little convincing.
And as we’ve gone through the evolution now, they absolutely accept it. I go to these council member companies, they have invited us. They believe in it. They want the training, they want to make sure their employees hear it.
We then incorporated it into our learning program. I will tell you every time, there are always students who come up to me and say, “Thank you so much for having this.” It has been very positive.
What is this training like?
For a business owner, it’s a lot like a CPR class. You don’t have to be a doctor to save someone. Anyone can help. Someone comes in to talk to the whole company for a 90 minute training session. We go through three chapters and videos and group work. And then we give them a script and we give them some tools, we give them some resources, the number 988, the stickers and the helmet cards.
For learners, they get the same. So we teach them things like CPR and then have them practice.
We show them what it’s like to observe behaviors and ask directly if someone is considering suicide.
You don’t want to beat around the bush. People get nervous, “What should I ask?” And we teach them. Again, it’s like CPR. Hold the place there until you get them to the ambulance, or in that case, a resource number or an employee assistance program or whatever.
What do all contractors need to know to improve the culture around mental health in their workplaces?
I think we really need to take on the mindset of the Marines; no man or woman left behind. We have to take care of each other. And that sounds very soft for the construction industry, but I think that’s the first thing a contractor can do tomorrow is build that culture. To say “let’s start having these conversations at all levels.”
