MARVIN JOLES
IN THE MIX
Mental Health in the Asphalt Industry
MARVIN JOLES
I know that’ s a big, heavy, title for this article. I know this is off the path of what you usually get from me when I write this monthly article. But sometimes, we need to pause and focus on something that is a major problem, in order to mitigate an even larger problem or tragedy.
Last month I was able to attend the National Asphalt Pavement Association Mid-Year Meeting. The organization does a great job providing multiple sessions on a wide range of topics that are at the forefront of importance in the asphalt industry. From legislative action and how it will affect us in the coming years, jobsite safety improvements, outreach to future generations of workers for our industry, to sustainability and more. One topic though hits close to home for me, and it was great to see, was a session at the event titled“ Paving a Safety Net: Strategies for Mental Health Awareness”. I added it to my agenda immediately, with extra anticipation. The session was led by Eric Green, Safety Manager at Ajax Paving Industries and by Dr. Vince Hafeli, President at Ajax Paving Industries. Now, this wasn’ t my first-time hearing Dr. Vince speak, as I have now heard him speak on this topic at various conferences, in various differences, no less than 4 times over the last 12 months. It’ s safe to say this is an important topic to Dr. Vince and as attendees of the session would soon learn, there is an important reason why. Dr. Vince, at one point, while a successful President of a successful paving company, decided to commit suicide. Something obviously stopped him from doing so, and
I believe it is a story you should hear from him rather than me, and you can by finding his book on Amazon titled“ Mental Health and Suicide: My Personal Story and Stories of Those Left Behind”. Dr. Vince has become the leader in our industry in advocation for Mental Health Awareness. In the session PowerPoint, we were faced with some staggering numbers, some of them I will share with you here:
• 103- The number of times Dr. Vince has spoken on this topic in total, including a TEDx
• 1.3 Million- The number of people who have attended his talks
• 53.3 out of 100,000- The number of suicides in Construction
• 162.6 out of 100,000- The number of overdoses in Construction
• 2- The number of hours that pass on average between one suicide and another, in Construction You see that last one? That’ s what really got me. We can rarely complete an asphalt project, commercial, municipal, or residential, in the time between suicides in construction. I asked myself, how can this be happening? In an industry that provides so much for the people in it, is it really that hard on that staggering amount of people? The numbers don’ t seem to be lying. I have been on a mission since the last time I heard Dr. Vince speak in November, to find out personally. I started doing interviews on this subject, in podcast form, because that’ s all I know of how to really have a in depth, informational talk. I
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