A growing focus in the media, policy circles, and research is emerging on the correlation between work and suicide. Specifically, a growing body of robust evidence links various psychosocial working conditions and job stressors to suicide. Diverse perspectives exist on the current state of evidence concerning causality and intervention, as well as the most suitable policy and practice responses. In this podcast episode, I interview two global experts who share their views from an occupational health & safety (OH&S) standpoint concerning work-related suicide, with a primary emphasis on the potential for working conditions to serve as modifiable risk factors or protective elements in the context of suicide among the working population.
We define work-related suicide as a suicide death that is entirely or partially connected to work or working conditions. We also consider the working conditions of the individuals who died by suicide.
We discuss:
How is work-related suicide defined from an OH&S standpoint?
What are the potential work-related contributors to suicide?
About Prof Anthony D. LaMontagne, Professor of Work, Health & Wellbeing; Deakin University and Associate Prof Tania King
Prof Anthony D. LaMontagne, Professor of Work, Health & Wellbeing; Deakin University (AUSTRALIA)
Tony LaMontagne’s career has been dedicated to developing the scientific and public understanding of work as a social determinant of health and translating this research into policy and practice to improve workplace and worker health. Specific areas of interest include workplace mental health, improving job quality and psychosocial working conditions, and evaluating policy interventions. His research has influenced policy & practice in workplace health both nationally and internationally, including OH&S authorities, mental health NGOs, the (Australian) National Mental Health Commission, the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration, and the World Health Organisation.
Associate Prof Tania King, University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Tania King is a Social Epidemiologist at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, at the University of Melbourne. She uses causally focussed quantitative social science methods to understand social and structural determinants of health inequities across the life course. Specific focuses of her work include 1) gender equality and norms as determinants of health outcomes; 2) paid and unpaid work arrangements and conditions, particularly unpaid care; 3) mental health and suicide. Tania currently holds an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award and a University of Melbourne Dame Kate Campbell Fellowship.
Show Notes
LaMontagne AD & King TL (August 2023): Work-related Suicide: A Discussion Paper. Suicide Prevention Australia, 46 pages. Open access at https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/WordRelatedSuicide_DiscussionPaper_8aug2023.pdf
King T, Maheen H, Taouk Y, LaMontagne AD (2023): Precarious work and the COVID-19 pandemic: the need for a gender equality lens, BMJ 380: e072872. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-072872
Blomqvist S, Virtanen M, LaMontagne AD, Magnusson Hanson LL (2022): Perceived job insecurity and risk of suicide and suicide attempts: a study of men and women in the Swedish working population, Scand J Work Environ Health 48(4):293-301 https://www.sjweh.fi/article/4015
King T, …, LaMontagne AD (2023): A blended face-to-face and smartphone intervention to improve suicide prevention literacy and help-seeking intentions among construction workers: a randomised controlled trial. Social Psych & Psychiatr Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-023-02429-9
Podcasts in the International Association for Suicide Prevention’s Workplace Series:
