America
Workplace suicides are on the rise: Study
New York, March 17
Workplace suicide cases are
on the rise and people belonging to specific occupations like law
enforcement, agriculture, medicine and the armed forces are at higher
suicide risk than others, finds a US-based study.
The highest
workplace suicide rate is in protective services occupations (5.3 per 1
million), the study published in the American Journal of Preventive
Medicine said.
The increased suicide risk among specific
occupations is the availability and access to lethal means, such as
drugs for medical doctors and firearms for law enforcement officers.
Workplace stressors and economic factors have also been found to be linked with suicide in these occupations.
"Occupation
can largely define a person's identity, and psychological risk factors
for suicide, such as depression and stress, can be affected by the
workplace," said lead investigator Hope M. Tiesman, epidemiologist with
the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
"The
workplace should be considered a potential site to implement
suicide-prevention programmes and train managers in the detection of
suicidal behaviour, especially among the high-risk occupations
identified in this paper," he added.
This study compared
workplace versus non-workplace suicides in the US between 2003 and 2010,
using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal
Occupational Injury database.
Following protective services
workers, among whom are firefighters and law enforcement officers,
individuals working in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations had
the second highest suicide rate (5.1 per one million).
Those in installation, maintenance, and repair occupations also had high workplace suicide rates (3.3 per one million).
Although
a subject of major concern, suicide within the military was excluded
from this analysis because the primary data sources used for the study
did not include statistics on military personnel.